


Middle Finger

by Darling_No



Series: Different Fingers Have Different Meanings [1]
Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Demons, Double Agents, Everyone Needs A Hug, Exorcists, Familiars, Guns, Illuminati, Middle Finger, Multi, Nephilim, Okumura Rin has ADHD, Rin is a little shit, Rocket Launchers, Spies & Secret Agents, Swords, emotional detachment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:53:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 44,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darling_No/pseuds/Darling_No
Summary: Rin doesn't care. He hasn't been able to since he was six. He knew he was emotionally detached from the start, even before Shiro had taken him to a child psychologist to be officially diagnosed with severe Emotional Detachment due to trauma. He also never thought he'd have friends, but here he was, killing demons side-by-side with the only people on the planet that cared about Rin Okumura."Huh. I guess even someone like me can have friends. That's unexpected."
Relationships: Goddain Sei/Okumura Rin, Okumura Rin & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji
Series: Different Fingers Have Different Meanings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056830
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	1. Detachment

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is an AU where Rin is emotionally detached and gives zero shits about most things.

Rin sighed as he passed yet another group of annoying girls that whispered about how hot he was or _omigod_ _look at his muscles_ or _he needs a haircut._ He wanted to laugh at them. If they knew him, they'd probably run screaming. Rin had emotional detachment issues from a young age and apparently, it was an extreme case because his sympathy was basically non-existent. The child psychologist had been horrified by his case and almost sued the man raising Rin. Shiro had to explain to her that Rin went through some kind of traumatic experience that was apparently so bad that the memory itself was pretty deeply suppressed so Rin couldn't remember what happened. 

Shiro, Rin's previous adoptive father, had always seemed to pity him after whatever that incident was. Rin didn't understand why. Emotions were not needed to live, so he'd be just fine.

Then there was Yukio, Rin's twin.  
They looked different, but if Rin got a haircut, glasses, green contacts, and put three fake moles on his face, he'd be Yukio Okumura. He didn't care that he looked so different from his brother either.

They were fraternal twins for a reason. Just let it be. It made things easier for anyone trying to tell them apart anyway. Or, it should've, but both twins got called each other's names regularly by Shiro and the clergymen and even patrons of the Monastery sometimes.

When everything changed around him, Rin was the one thing that was always constant. Always the same, never changing, never making a big deal of things. Yes, it was sad that Shiro had died, even if Rin didn't feel any sadness over the man's death himself. But Yukio had taken it horribly and told Rin it was his fault, that he'd killed Shiro.

He was technically right, but what killed Shiro wasn't Rin himself–it was the pity Shiro felt for Rin that weakened his barriers against Satan.

Shiro had even stabbed himself in the heart to banish Satan and make sure he couldn't reach Rin, which the boy didn't understand. Why did the man hold onto someone who didn't care about him? Where was the benefit in it? Rin supposed not having to deal with the difficulties of life anymore might seem like a plus, but that was out of character for Shiro. Rin just didn't get it.

Rin figured saving his body for a funeral would be appreciated, so he grabbed Shiro and destroyed the Gehenna Gate in the floor without giving a second thought to whether or not he should unsheathe the sword.

Yukio was never very good at feelings either, preferring to look at the logical side of things, so he'd pretty much just ignored Rin since that day unless Rin needed help getting around the huge school he'd been thrown into since he'd decided to be an Exorcist.

It was already the second week of school, so Rin didn't need his twin's help getting to classes anymore. Rin's Cram School classmates seemed very confused about the boy who reacted to nothing–positive or negative. He figured if his detachment was an actual problem, his twin would tell the class about it. It didn't appear that he had so far, though.

He sat down in first period as the bell rang.

§~•~§~•~§

"Rin, you shouldn't eat with your knife. You'll get it taken away." Yukio warned. Rin shrugged.

"We have plenty of kitchen knives. They'll give up eventually." Rin knew Yukio would get pissy at him for that, but Yukio could kiss his ass. He'd carried a knife around since whatever had fucked him up emotionally and it had never failed him yet. Yukio could suck it.

His twin sighed and walked away and Rin watched the fangirls close in on him. He snickered and went back to eating with his knife.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin tipped back in his chair, feet on the desk, listening to his twin drone on and on about some herb that repelled demons. Depending on what was being taught, Rin would either stay awake and listen or sleep through the class. Grimoire studies was one he slept through every day without fail. History was one he rarely stayed awake for whether he wanted to or not. Magic Circle Theory was pretty boring since they only ever took notes so far. P.E. was entertaining and interactive. Yukio's Pharmacology class was hit and miss.

He heard Suguro grumbling behind him. "Oh look, he's not asleep for once."

Rin snickered. That guy had serious issues. It was amusing to watch him get frustrated over Rin not reacting to anything said about him. Only two weeks in and Suguro had already passed the "attempting to insult Rin's parents" stage and was now back to just being petty and grumbling under his breath, not knowing Rin could hear every word thanks to his advanced senses.

The bell finally rang to release them from Yukio's monotone class and Rin made his way out of the classroom, Shiemi following behind him without question. He'd met her a few days ago in her garden at the Exorcist Supply Shop. Yukio had needed more Exorcist supplies and told Rin not to go inside or touch anything. So, Rin went and touched everything he could and happened upon the small girl in her garden after breaking down her gate just by touching it. She'd freaked out at first, but then she'd calmed down and invited him in. Yukio's face had been pretty comical when he saw his brother talking with the girl and planting flowers with her.

From then on, Shiemi had started coming to Cram School and following him around wherever he went when they were there. She was too shy to talk to anyone else, even though she looked like she really wanted to talk to Kamiki and Paku, the only other girls in the class. He didn't mind her following as long as she wasn't annoying. They normally hung out at a fountain in a courtyard after classes.

"Hey Rin?" Shiemi fidgeted. He grunted in acknowledgment. "I don't really belong here, huh?" She said.

"Do you want me to answer honestly or just lie to make you feel better?" He asked. She thought for a second, then sighed. "Honestly."

"No, you really don't. You gotta learn how not to be so awkward and clumsy. And how to actually talk to new people." He answered. She blinked.

"Oh. I thought it would be worse." She admitted.

"Seriously, though, you really need different clothes if you're gonna be hunting demons. This isn't feudal Japan, Shiemi." He added. She blushed and opened her mouth to say something, but never got the chance as Suguro walked up with his two lackeys.

"Well, well, well. You get into a high ranking school and you bring your woman with you?" He taunted.

"No. She's not my woman. She's too oblivious and ditzy to date." Rin told him. "And what about you? You come to a notorious school on a scholarship, but you can't go anywhere by yourself like a big boy? Having trouble not being with your boyfriends 24/7?" Rin slid his eyes over to the punk to watch the reaction.

Shima burst out laughing as Suguro sputtered and turned to yell at his friend. "I'm sorry, but it's kinda true. You don't go anywhere without us." Shima snickered.

"Does he ask you guys to go to the bathroom with him too?" Rin asked. Suguro's face was getting redder and redder. Shima thought it was hilarious. Konekomeru was sweating at the tension between the boy sitting on the fountain and his childhood friend.

Slowly, Rin stepped down to the bottom tier of the fountain, crouching to be face to face with Suguro.

"I bet he has to sit out in P.E. during his time of the month. _The cramps must be torture._ " He smirked.

"Bon, no!" Konekomeru cried as the boy swung at his classmate on the fountain. Rin grabbed his fist and spun the boy around by his arm, then pushed and let go so he fell into Shima and Konekomeru.

Shiemi squeaked and scooted away from the violence. Then she frowned. "You-you didn't hurt him....?" She trailed off.

Rin shook his head. "No. That'd be pointless and I don't feel like listening to Yukio's constant bitching about my behavior." Rin shrugged. The three friends had already snuck off while he was talking. Pests.

§~•~§~•~§

"I heard you fought Suguro today after cram school. Why?" Yukio demanded. Rin groaned. He didn't even hurt the guy and he _still_ got his twin bitching about it to him.

"I didn't fight him, I spun him around and pushed him away from me." Rin corrected. "And what happened after that?" Yukio pressed.

"Shiemi distracted me and the three little pigs ran away." Rin answered.

"You're calling yourself the Big Bad Wolf then?" Yukio snorted.

"If they don't fuck off, then yeah."

Yukio sighed. Rin had always had a way of clashing with people without actually doing anything to them. His overall presence just seemed to rub them the wrong way. He turned back to ask Rin if he'd done his homework, but Rin had his back to his twin, obviously wanting to sleep.

Yukio sighed and graded a few more papers before turning in for the night as well.


	2. Go To Hell

In the past week alone, Rin was attacked by two Nabarius, two different times. And he knew just where they came from. In fact, it was pretty obvious where they came from. On the plus side of one of those attacks, he passed the ExWire Exam no problem. And without using his sword for anything more than beating a demon back once or twice, too.

He'd cornered the Tamer teacher and threatened him with his knife and the man freaked out, blabbing about how anything related to Satan needed to be eradicated, but not making anothe remove to carry that plan out with the knife pressed to his throat. So much for Exorcists having the guts and strength to stand up to demons.

Now, they had to do Summer tasks as ExWires. Rin insisted on following Yukio to see the problem at the South Entrance of the Academy and Yukio knew he couldn't stop his twin, so he let him come. It ended up being Shiro's old familiar throwing a hissy fit.

"Lemme handle this before you try poisoning it." Rin walked towards the screaming cat on the road.

"Hey, cat! I'm Shiro's son." He started. The cat stopped screaming to look at him.

"Shiro's...son? Shiro had kittens?" He repeated. Rin nodded.

"He's dead. Shiro is dead and there's nothing you can do about it." He said bluntly. He thought he could hear Yukio facepalming behind him but he wasn't sure.

"What?! No! Shiro will _never_ die! He can't!" Kuro cried.

"Stop being stupid! Humans die within a hundred years and demons live forever. That's our reality, Kuro! Get over it and move on!" Rin growled. Kuro stared down at him in shock.

"He's gone." Rin repeated softly. "But if you want, you can stay with me. I probably won't die anytime soon with the demon blood in me."

The cat sith wailed, slowly shrinking until he was a regular cat with two tails and horns on his head. Rin opened his arms and Kuro jumped into them, nuzzling his chest as he cried. Rin sighed and walked off. Yukio looked at him in question.

"Guess he's mine now. Could always use a Partner in Crime, I guess." The older grumbled. Kuro would be a good utility if he ever needed to run away from the Order. If Rin stayed, the demon could be useful on missions in the future.

Yukio smiled and went to start the paperwork so Rin could have his new familiar. Maybe Kuro could get Rin to open up more. He vaguely wondered if the cat would be something like a therapy animal for Rin.

§~•~§~•~§

"Oh man, have I been waiting for this! Summer has been really boring. Being an ExWire _sucks!_ " Shima complained. Rin sighed. Same old whiny Shima.

"Aw, quit complainin! I had to chase Bariyon with Tomagawa for days!" Suguro snapped. "I had to clean up coaltars and clean the Leaper's cage." Konekomeru sighed.

"Hey, what about you, Okumura?" Suguro looked up at the teen laying on the second platform of the statue above them. Rin peeked one eye open to look at him. He decided he'd mess with the teen, just to watch his face turn red like a cherry like it always did.

"I got a familiar." He answered.

"What?! There's _no way!_ " Suguro exclaimed.

"Hey Yukio! I got a familiar right?" Rin called to his twin. "He better be your familiar if all the paperwork I had to do has anything to say for it!" Yukio called back.

Rin smiled smugly as Suguro fumed. "Why dontcha summon him then?" He challenged.

Rin snorted. "Because I don't have to prove anything to _you._ "

"You can't just spout some bullshit and have your brother in on it too and expect us to believe it!" Suguro snapped.

"How are you called a genius, but _so_ childish?" Rin sighed.

"Who's childish?!" Bon growled. Rin got down from the top tier of the base of the statue–reminiscent of the fountain–and got close enough to Bon's face that their noses were nearly touching.

"Exactly who I just said: _you_."

Suguro fisted his hands in Rin's shirt and pulled him down from the statue. Rin swung himself around and intertwined their fingers, pulling the boy's arms around himself. "What the–let go of me you freak!" Bon cried, trying to untangle himself from the shorter boy. Rin untwisted them and pulled Suguro down to eye level by the collar so they were nose to nose again.

" _What_ is your problem?" He hissed. Bon's cheeks tinted pink as he struggled to sound dignified with his response. "I can't stand guys like you who sleep in class and never pay attention! You're an insult to anyone with an ambition." He answered. Rin arched a brow. "I haven't failed any tests so far. And it's not like _you_ don't have any problems either." The boy pointed out.

"The hell does that mean?!" Bon demanded. Rin let him go, rolling his eyes.

"You're a loose cannon, you can't just leave people alone to fend for themselves even if they don't want your help, and you point out everyone else's insecurities to seem big and tough when really, you're just hiding your own issues. You're not helping _anybody_. You're just annoying." Rin listed easily. Shima and Koneko were sweating. Luckily, before things got heated, the girls finally showed up.

Shiemi was finally wearing something that want a kimono. It was actually the True Cross Academy girls' uniform. Rin silently applauded her for following his advice. And she looked cute in it too. Shiemi was thick and curvy. _How the fuck did she hide that figure?_

Yukio greeted them and told them what they were supposed to be doing after recovering from his near- aneurism at Rin catching him staring somewhere he shouldn't have been. "The ghost of a child is haunting this place, so the park has been shut down for today. Can anyone tell me what a ghost is?" Yukio informed. Izumo raised her hand as always.

"A ghost is a spirit unable to pass on. They are held back by something they wanted to do or never accomplished. They do similar things to what they were doing before they died." She announced.

Yukio nodded. "He has only done petty things, such as skirt flipping and arm pulling. Our job is to exorcise him so the park can open back up tomorrow. Now, we will split up into teams." Yukio began calling names for partners, but Rin wasn't listening. He was wondering how the fuck a child died after flipping a skirt.

He heard his name and Shiemi's, so they set off on their own in a random direction. She started walking weird and he raised an eyebrow. "Shiemi, what are you doing?" He asked. She turned around to reveal a red face with puffed up cheeks. Rin laughed– she looked ridiculous.

"I'm trying not to smile so I don't look dumb." She huffed.

"Shiemi, don't listen to Kamiki. You can do whenever you want. And right now, you look pretty dumb. You looked better before. Kamiki's just a jealous, bossy bitch." He said.

"You know, for the longest time, I wished I could go to an amusement park, but when I was little, I was too shy, so I never did. But I think the present is a good time! So next time, I want to come here to play, not for a mission!" Shiemi mentioned. Rin hummed.

"Sounds better than sitting around in the dorm all day. I'll come with you." Rin said.

"Y-yeah?! Thanks!" She cheered.

"I can't stand Yukio. A park is a good place to lose him if he keeps following me around like he keeps trying to do." He added, getting a giggle from the blonde.

The sound of crying rang through the air. Rin sighed and they followed the noise to the carousel that had started running on its own.

"That's unusual." Rin muttered. They saw a little boy sitting on one of the horses and wailing. Rin groaned. He couldn't stand kids. They were annoying, always needy, and thought they were entitled to everything. Kinda like Suguro, actually.

"Oi, when are ya gonna stop bleating, brat?" Rin growled.

"Rin! Don't yell at him!" Shiemi scolded him. Suddenly, the kid flew over to Shiemi, still bawling.

"I...I...I was sick for a really long time....mommy and daddy promised me that if I got better, they'd take me to this amusement park one day. B-But I died....and now I can't play with anyone!" He sobbed. Shiemi pet the boy's hair, soothing him. Rin rolled his eyes. So loud and messy.

He'd been a simple child as he grew up, doing most things himself, quietly minding his own business and just doing what he wanted. He hadn't needed Daddy's attention all the time like Yukio, who'd been a huge crybaby.

"I see. You must've been lonely huh?" Shiemi sympathized.

"Shut up, Hag!" The ghost got a good feel of her chest and then flew off, leaving a shocked Shiemi and a mildly surprised Rin behind.

The blonde snapped out of her shock quick. "Oh! There he is!" Shiemi ran off, giving chase after the ghost. Rin stayed behind. He wasn't chasing that little urchin.

He was calling Yukio to report the ghost's location when something tugged on his sword. He held fast and pulled it back down reflexively, bringing the person who was pulling it to the ground. Some guy who looked like a wannabe K-pop idol with weirdly styled green hair and ripped clothes was looking up at him, surprised. Rin could only think one thing: "The fuck?"

"Hello. I am Amaimon." The stranger greeted, getting up. He stuck out a hand, but Rin wasn't buying it for a second.

"Yeah, no, I'm not shaking your hand. Why were you trying to take the sword?" Rin questioned.

"I want to play." Amaimon answered simply. Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Amaimon looked at him. "I want to see how powerful you are. So you'd be willing?" He asked excitedly, even though his expression didn't change much.

"Sure, why not." Rin shrugged. If this guy wanted to fight, then fine. There was nothing fun to do on this mission anyway, maybe fighting this guy would liven up his day.

Rin didn't wait around, he immediately charged with a right hook to the jaw to distract the demon from the left hook that caught him in the ribs. Amaimon coughed briefly before swinging at Rin and missing. Rin was good at hand-to-hand and with enhanced strength, senses, and durability, he wouldn't go down easy. He didn't need weapons. If you wanted to hang around the streets without getting your shit stolen, you had to know how to defend yourself.

Rin slipped his knife out of his sleeve and stabbed Amaimon in the side with it. The demon cried out in surprise, but that definitely wasn't enough to take him down. He leaped away, onto the giant statue of Mephisto. Rin jumped up easily and swiped at him, only for the demon to jump onto a nearby rollercoaster called Go To Hell. Mephisto must have thought he was hilarious.

Rin shouldered his sword and jumped to join the demon in the coaster. "Rin, over here!" Amaimon teased. Rin huffed and climbed through to the other side of the coaster. Then he tackled the Demon King and got in a couple of good punches before being thrown off.

He grabbed onto the beams and climbed up to the top of the track, where Amaimon was waiting. "Rin, over here!" The demon called again. He then proceeded to hit Rin so he fell straight through the structure of the rollercoaster. Rin groaned and spat some blood to the side. There were definitely some sizeable bruises on his back.

"You are interesting. I can see why Mephisto and Satan have paid lots of attention to you." Amaimon admitted, reaching for the sword once again. But it moved from his grasp and Rin pommeled him in the stomach with it instead, throwing the demon off of him. Then Rin threw the sword down to the ground far below and decided to just use his knife for the rest of the fight.

He swiped and managed to slice a few cuts into Amaimon's expressionless face. Rin glanced at the ground below and saw Shiemi about to be buried in falling debris. He used the small reserve of flames he had outside the sword and burned it before it got to her. Yukio would get him in trouble if he let someone die on his watch when he was perfectly capable of saving them.

"Pay attention to _me!_ " Amaimon smashed his ribs in with a harsh kick and Rin choked on blood and bile riding in his throat as he fell over the side of the coaster. Amaimon was on top of him, doing his best to turn Rin's ribs into bone powder inside his body until they reached the ground, where he was slammed down harshly and probably got a concussion.

"Well, you were fun to play with for a short time, but you're still pretty weak. I don't understand why Satan and Mephisto like you so much." Amaimon yanked the knife out of his leg and ran.

Rin stayed collapsed on the ground, choking up blood and bile. Yeah, he'd way underestimated that guy, but technically, he'd won since Amaimon bolted.

"That was really somethin'. How'd you fight him without the sword?" Yamada had apparently been watching.

"Don't need a sword. I can....handle myself....with a knife." He answered, his breathing obstructed by the most-likely crushed ribs in his chest. He faintly heard Yukio shouting for him, but his vision blanked and he was out cold in the dirt.

"Doesn't look like you handled yourself." Yamada pointed out.

"Man you're slow, Yukio. I thought I'd have to step in!" Yamada sighed. Yukio narrowed his eyes. The rest of the students arrived to the scene soon after him. Shiemi sat on the ground to tend to Rin since Yukio seemed busy dealing with her classmate.

Shura had pulled her hoodie off, allowing her.... _voluptuous_ chest freedom from confinement. The boys ogled at her chest while she conversed with Yukio and Tsubakki. "Well, I'll be takin' this guy to Vatican headquarters. He was fighting a Demon King, so I'll have to question him." Shura said.

"U-Um, Kirigakure-san? I don't think he's able to do anything right now. He passed out and has multiple severe injuries that need to be treated." Shiemi spoke up.

Rin was, in fact, covered in dirt and blood. His uniform was ripped in several places and there were multiple smaller wounds that hadn't healed.

"Oh. Yeah, that looks pretty bad. I guess I'll take him to the infirmary first." Shura muttered, picking the boy up and slinging him over her shoulder like a sack of flour.

She found a door with a lock and left the rest of the class at the amusement park.


	3. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is totally unrelated to the story, but hear me out:
> 
> Hunchback of Notre Dame/BE AU with Rin as Quasimodo (discriminated against bc he looks like a demon)
> 
> Bon as Esmeralda(bc he'd be a great Gypsy and he has the look)
> 
> Y'all can decide in the comments who to cast for the other main characters bc I refuse to cast Shiro as Frollo.

Once Rin woke up covered in bandages and in a clean uniform, Shura took him into the Great Cell.

"So, how did you encounter Amaimon?" She asked. "He tried to take my sword, but failed." Rin answered.

"Why did he want your sword?" She wondered. Rin shrugged.

"Hell if I know."

"Did he say anything to you?" She questioned.

"Something about wanting to play. It was all punches from then on." Rin told her.

"Why didn't you draw your sword?" She inquired.

"Didn't need it. I'm good enough with a knife and my fists." Rin said.

"You didn't know he was a Demon King did you?" She gave him a nonplussed look. He shook his head honestly.

"Dear God, you're an idiot. Why would you fight him?!" She screeched suddenly. "Shiro really failed with _you_ , didn't he?!"

Rin looked on in unimpressed silence. "Yup."

She turned back to him. "What's wrong with you anyway? I call you a failure and insult the man who raised you and you just _agree?!_ " She snarled.

"If you knew Shiro so well, you'd know something happened when I was little that was apparently so horrible that I can't even access that memory and haven't been able to emotionally connect with anyone or anything since. I don't care about anything. Shiro was a man who spared a broken little boy. He tried to raise me like a normal kid, but because I had no care for a lot of things and didn't really have much personality, he ended up spending most of his time with Yukio since they knew I was perfectly fine if I was left alone." Rin explained.

She backed away as if he'd burned her. "I remember him saying you were bad at feelings, but I didn't think...." She trailed off. "I guess he didn't want to admit his failure. Although he _did_ succeed in one thing." Rin stated. Shura looked at him warily. "I _am_ a good weapon."

_Shiro....you meant to raise him as a son, but ended up actually raising a weapon instead....._

She backed away and ran out of the cell, leaving Rin standing there by himself. He stepped out a minute later. "I think she's scared of me." He said to Yukio, who'd been waiting outside the cell. His twin actually laughed. "Finally, at least one of us can get her to screw off." Yukio muttered. They used a magic key to get back to the dorm.

"That was an eventful day." Yukio sighed tiredly. They both ended up skipping dinner and going straight to bed.

§~•~§~•~§

"I have no evidence of Satan's son being here, so I'll stay and keep investigating. But that kid....he's a freak. Are you really gonna make him the Order's weapon when the time comes?" She shuddered.

Mephisto grinned. "Well, he's already got training of his own with that shiny knife of his, not to mention his hand-to-hand is pretty advanced as well. But he still needs training with his flames and that sword of his. He seems to feel that he doesn't need to use them in combat. Our young Rin is very good at not being found out." The Demon King chuckled.

"As long as he doesn't show those flames, I have nothing to report." Shura shrugged.

"He's my favorite pawn now that I have him directly within my grasp. I can just sit back and watch him without having to influence his actions nearly at all." Mephisto admitted, genuinely happy to have Rin in his school. Shura sighed and left.


	4. Forest Fight

Rin stretched his arms up towards the sky and felt his back pop as he walked down the front steps of the Academy. "Thank God that's over." He sighed in satisfaction. He'd gone a full semester without too much trouble. He hadn't seen that Amaimon guy after the amusement park either. Unfortunately, he did happen to run into the Kyoto boys just as he was exiting the school.

"Oh, Okumura! This is the first time we've met outside of Cram class." Konekomeru said. "Yeah, there's a reason for that." Rin muttered under his breath. None of then seemed to hear him.

"Once the closing ceremony is done, we're supposed to assemble at the True Cross Halfway Station." Suguro told him. "Want to come along, Okumura?" Konekomeru offered. Rin shrugged. Why not? He walked with them on their way out. "Over the break, all the normal students will be heading back to their homes." Shims pointed out. "You guys are from Kyoto, right?" Rin asked, just to humor them and keep awkward silence at bay. "Sounds nice."

"Not really." Suguro grumbled. Rin brushed it off. Kyoto must have been really nice, or at least the part they were from. Aside from Shima's pervyness, the three boys had excellent manners.

Rin grew up in the shitty part of Tokyo, so all he knew was gangs, dirty streets, and homeless or poor people. But it wasn't the worst thing. As long as you knew how to adapt to it, you'd be fine. Rin could adapt to anything because he didn't really have any preferences for things other than not liking things that were overcomplicated by stupid people.

The four boys met Yukio and the girls at the station. Yukio had his pleasant fake smile on and Rin knew this wouldn't be fun. Of course, Shura was there–just to top it off–in her less-than-modest clothing.

She noticed him and waved somewhat awkwardly. Rin ignored her. Yukio explained what they would be doing out in the woods and Rin sighed, long-suffering. Yukio just loved to torture his students, didn't he?

§~•~§~•~§

"I don't feel like an Exorcist. I feel more like one of those marching soldiers." Suguro panted. "I'm exhausted." Konekomeru agreed. "It's so hot and my bags are so heavy." Shima added. "There's so many mosquitoes." Kamiki groaned.

"Do you have anything else to complain about while you're at it?" Rin grumbled. "What was that, Okumura?!" Suguro called up to him. "Aren't you too tired to fight with me right now?" Rin asked.

"How can you have so much energy?! You're not even sweating, and you're carrying Kirigakure-sensei's pack along with your own!" Shima whined. Rin's response was splashing water at the boy from the waterfall they were passing.

They finally arrived at a huge clearing in the middle of the woods. Yukio told them about demonic behavior at night and gave them their tasks before dismissing them. Rin and Suguro set up one tent while Shima and Konekomeru set up the next one. Rin looked over at the girls to see how they were doing at Shima's complaint about food. Rin sighed when he saw them struggling to understand the directions and failing to peel potatoes. It was a crime to chefs everywhere.

He walked over and took the stuff away from them, pushing them out of the designated kitchen area. "Just let me do it." In less than half an hour, he'd made a full meal for everybody. "Food time!" He called.

"How do you manage to be loud when you use the same tone of voice all the time?" Suguro wondered. Rin shrugged. That seemed to be most of the boy's responses, aside from sighs or him ignoring the question. So uncaring.....

They all sat down to eat together around a campfire. "Holy shit! It's really good! Is this for real?!" Suguro looked to Rin with disbelieving eyes after taking his first bite of the food. The rest agreed with various noises of enjoyment and surprise. Shima said something about Rin being like a housewife and Yukio snickered. "Cooking is Rin's only talent." He informed them.

"I was gonna mention disguising the taste of poison in food, but that skill's in the same category." Rin said, eyes flitting to Yukio's serving as a corner of his lips turned up in a barely there smirk before he went back to his own food with his normal neutral expression. He had an excellent poker face, but Suguro was calling his bluff, because whether this food was poisoned or not, it was good enough to die for.

Yukio, however, froze and looked down at his food suspiciously. "Geez, teach is actually scared." Shima laughed. Yukio regained his composure and finished his food, than went on to do more explaining that Rin barely listened to because it was incredibly overcomplicated when he told them.

Suguro kindly pointed out that Shura was underaged and Rin scoffed at him. That Rooster really believed Shura was _eighteen?_

Yukio seemed to be thinking along the same lines, giving Suguro a strange look. "What are you talking about, she's twenty-si–" **_Clank!_**

He froze. "Whoops, my hand slipped~!" Shura sang. The group all but whipped around when they heard laughter from behind them. Rin was _laughing_ at Shura's 'slip.'

"He's never laughed before." Konekomeru whispered in amazement. "Of course he laughed at his brother's misfortune." Shima snorted. "It's weird to see him express emotion." Suguro muttered, thoroughly weirded out. He noted Rin's laugh was actually kind of nice, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

When Rin was done laughing, they turned back to their teacher, who was getting irritated now. "Nyahahahaha, he's pissed, he's pissed~!" Shura sang.

After Yukio finished his intructions, Shura grabbed Rin and pulled him against her. "Don't use your flames, 'kay kid? You're not so bad and it would suck for you to be their weapon." She reminded him. Rin was surprised she could remember to be discreet as drunk as she was. He nodded and went to his place at the border of the magic circle.

Finally, they got into position. Yukio fired off a shot and they took off. Pretty soon, Rin was swarmed by moths that were biting him and sucking up his blood. He figured they must have been demon moths if they wanted his blood. He swatted at them, but decided to give up on the flashlight. Their numbers lessened without the light to attract them, but they were some persistent bugs. "Goddamn blood sucking moths!" Rin growled. He heard a piercing scream and elected to ignore it. It was probably Shiemi, but she was scared of everything, so it could be something minor. She'd be fine.

Then the chuchi started swarming him even more. He was starting to feel a little dizzy, possibly from blood loss, so he sat down on a rock and took a drink of water. The bugs were gonna be a bigger problem then he expected. Ah, fuck it. Rin let out blue flames around his body, just a thin layer, and the chuchi burned easily.

He got up and extinguished his fire when the crowd of bugs was significantly smaller. He should have been getting close a lantern if Yukio's instructions were to be trusted. He heard someone else yell–a deeper tone, no doubt it was Suguro–and then Shima as well. _What is going on with these guys? They don't have fire like me to burn the bugs away, but don't they know Fatal Verses?_

Rin stayed on the move until he found a crappy old bridge. It had a good number of old, peeling seals on it. It was too rickety to cross and on closer inspection, the dark moving stuff he thought was water was actually bugs in the riverbed.

He grimaced, but crossed through the bugs anyways. They tried to crawl up his clothes, but he swatted them off easily. As soon as he climbed back onto land on the other side, he was grabbed by something from behind. Warm, soft tendrils curled around his wrists and ankles and even his torso.

"What the hell?!" He cried as he was pulled up into the air. The tentacles took him close to their master's eyes and then they started moving fast through the foliage. It was dizzying and Rin swallowed bile back more than once until finally, he was dropped on a rock that protruded from the trees and foliage of the forest. Amaimon the Earth King stood above him as he groaned. The demon had targeted him specifically while distracting the other students to make them think it was happening to all of them while he abducted Rin.

As soon as he had the chance, Rin tackled Amaimon's knees and pinned him to the ground. "What do you want from me? You wanna play again?" Rin asked, getting annoyed now. He was trying to accomplish something and this asshole was getting in the way.

Amaimon nodded eagerly. "Yes! I want to play again! But this time, use the sword!" He insisted, pushing Rin off of him. Rin did a handstand, wrapped his legs around the demon's neck, and squeezed, cutting off his air supply. Amaimon easily pulled him off and threw him off into a tree. Rin got up quick and took out his knife, always hidden up his sleeve in case of emergency(Rin had already sewed makeshift sheathes inside his uniform sleeves just like he had done to all his normal long-sleeved shirts and jackets).

"I don't have my sword with me, but I've got this." The knife was alight with ghostly blue flames, making it look more threatening than a kitchen knife should.

He charged the Earth King and they fought. Rin lost track of time. They exchanged blows and scratches and jabs. Rin sunk his knife into Amaimon a few times, but the Earth King recovered almost immediately, just like Rin recovered fast from where Amaimon sunk his long claws into him. The Earth King batted his knife far away into the foliage at one point, but Rin was fine with that. He'd always been more of a brawler.

They both got increasingly bloody and battered as the fight went on, but both Rin and Amaimon enjoyed the rush of the fight way too much to be normal. Rin figured that must have been a Demon thing.

Where Rin began slowing down, Amaimon kept at it at the same place, beginning to overtake the half-demon in the fight. Rin only narrowly avoided getting sliced to ribbons or becoming ground meat several times because his reflexes were on point after fighting so often back when he lived in the Monastery.

Shura appeared out of the brush, looking a little worse for wear as well. "Take it, Rin!" She threw his sword to him and he unsheathed it without a second thought. He hated using the sword, but he hoped he'd get a power boost to beat this asshole.

Bright, brilliant, electric-blue exploded from his body and his sword, lighting the whole scene in ghostly blue flames as they danced over the son of Satan, his irises warped and his features more demonic than before. In a way, it was almost beautiful. One thing was for sure–it was horrifyingly fascinating to watch him begin to overtake Amaimon with sheer power, to watch him incinerate trees and crush boulders to dust and crack the ground they stood on.

Mephisto watched the spectacle from above. This was the best source of entertainment for him and as a plus, Amaimon was having lots of fun, which meant he'd leave Mephisto alone for a bit after this.

The other students showed up to help, despite Shura's order to stay in the circle. She growled. Now she'd have to report to the higher-ups. There were witnesses. She couldn't just lie now. _Damn it, kids!_

The students gaped at the sight before them. Rin stood above Amaimon in all his battle-work glory, facing off against the Demon King of Earth with Luminescent blue flames that were unmistakable.

Rin didn't let up his barrage of merciless attacks on the Earth King until Mephisto stepped in. Rin was going to lose himself to the flames at this rate and that would not be good for his school or Rin's sword. The principal grabbed the two demons to separate them and locked Amaimon in his cuckoo clock.

Rin growled and leaped forward, out of the man's grasp. He slashed with his sword and cut the cuckoo clock in half, grabbing Amaimon from it and sending them both crashing to the ground. They tumbled, scratching and biting at each other like hatchlings. Mephisto sighed at the childish brawling, pulling them apart once more. Amaimon punched him in the face to get him to let go and Mephisto snapped his gloved fingers sharply, banishing Amaimon to a Pocket Dimension instead of one of his many prisons. He'd deal with the Earth King later.

Mephisto finally sheathed the still flaming Kurikara and the only light they had were the first rays of sunlight. Rin went slack so suddenly, the man almost dropped him. It seemed the power boost from unsheathing Kurikara had used up all of Rin's stamina.

The students, who'd witnessed the most brutal part of the fight, looked absolutely horrified. Yukio looked rather upset and Shura looked very irritated.

The Headmaster sighed and pulled Rin up do he had a better hold on the boy. He'd take the scenic route to meet the Paladin so Rin had some time to rest and heal his damaged body.

§~•~§~•~§

"Get up, Rin." Mephisto shook him awake.

"Arthur August Angel, Paladin. Come with me, demon." A tall blonde man with a white dress and an unnecessarily large sword grabbed Rin's arm and pulled him along. He had a steel grip and a steely expression to match.

He forced Rin through doors until they came to a huge courtroom. There was a mosaic of the Arch Angels versus what Rin guessed to be the Demon Kings after he saw one person that looked somewhat like Mephisto. Go figure that clown bastard was a Demon King.

Angel told him to kneel, gave him 0.01seconds to do so, then forced him down and kept him there by severing his right leg at the calf. "Behave and stay down." He ordered, ignoring Rin's shout of pain.

"I don't really have a choice." The teen bit out, wincing at the pain shooting up his leg when the sword shifted.

"Don't talk back, Satan Spawn." The Paladin hissed.

"I have a name." Rin gritted out, trying to ignore the pain in his leg since no one was offering pain killers and he figured he'd be here a while.

"Trust me, you'll be dead soon enough. There's no point in learning it." Angel scoffed.

"I'd rather live, thanks." Rin responded.

"I heard you were heartless. Your file says you've got a severe case of emotional detachment that keeps you from being even partially normal like a human. You have no feelings, so why do you want to live so bad?" Angel sneered in his ear. "I have feelings, they're just shut away so I never have to feel like I did during the incident that caused the detachment. I'm not a sociopath, dumbass." Rin sneered.

"And why do you want to live so badly?" Angel inquired.

"Because it's more appealing to live and be able to spite the people who say I'm not allowed to." Rin grinned sharply, flashing his pearly white fangs at the man and grinning wider at the flinch it got him.

He knew he was pissing off the supposedly strongest exorcist in the Order, but he gave zero fucks. This guy was a tool who only saw the world in black and white and refused to believe anything could be grey–humans were good, demons were evil, and even the worst humans were better than demons. Rin just wanted to fucking sleep and not have to deal with people in general, but no, everyone kept him awake until morning.

Three heavily robed people stepped up. Rin was dazed, tired, and in pain, but he looked up anyways. They said something about Mephisto betraying them and then went onto the topic that Rin was Satan's son.

Mephisto, the crazy bastard, agreed that it was Rin in the image shown and said now wasn't the time for games or secrets. Something about people seeing a report fifteen years ago involving Rin's mom and Shiro. Rin didn't really care, he was focusing on the pain running through his severed leg. He tried not to shift too much.

Finally, they got to the part where they asked the clown bastard why he'd let Rin live.

"In order to create a weapon to fight Satan!" Mephisto declared with the most serious face anyone's ever seen on him, though it wasn't without a sinister grin. Then the demon proceeded to try and make a gamble. Rin didn't mind as long as he got to live. Surviving an attack from Satan a few months before just to die here would be a waste of his time.

"Will he become a Knight for True Cross or will he become a Demon King of Gehenna?" Mephisto made a grand gesture. "I hate both of those equally." Rin grumbled, quiet enough for only him to hear.

Angel decided to step in and protest that Mephisto was a demon who was too good at spouting pretty words. Rin was getting fed up with these people blabbering about him when he was right here.

" _ **Shut up!**_ I'm a living being whether you like it or not. I may be unable to sympathise with people, but I at least know how to make decisions that benefit both sides. So _I'll_ make this deal with you: In six months, I'll take the Exorcist Qualification Exam. If I pass, I'll be your weapon. But I want access to classified and top secret information. And until I graduate Highschool, only call me in for the most important things so I don't miss out too much. I ain't failin' school just 'cause you fucks can't handle shit yourselves." He called up to the robes figured above him.

They room was silent for a second before erupting into noise. The Exorcists all along the balconies protested the idea and Rin made faces at them and flipped a few off just because they weren't allowed to even touch him right now. Rin took advantage of situations that were on his side.

The judge guy up at the top silenced them. "We have considered this deal. However, all of the things you ask for in exchange for being our weapon is too much. So, we offer you only _four_ months to prepare for an Exorcist Qualification Exam for just you. If you pass that, we will accept your deal. Another thing we ask is that you wear some form of a tracker so we know your movements. That is our final offer." The man said. Rin considered it. Four moths to train. But he'd get everything he asked for. Even with a tracker, that didn't sound too bad.

Rin knew they'd probably screw him over once he graduated highschool and put him through hell, but it was this or die at the moment. If things got shitty in the future, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

"I accept."

"WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!" Angel lost his shit and Rin cackled on the floor beneath him.

"Angel, I suggest you calm down. Since young Rin here will be in the higher ranks, he might be your apprentice some day. You would take him on important missions with you and teach him everything you know about the Order." The robed woman chided.

Angel looked like he'd rather die. If Rin wasn't already on the floor, he would've fallen to the floor with how hard he was laughing at the man's misfortune. He stood up, his leg now fully re-attached after Angel took his sword out in shock as he waved his arms around and protested the decision.

"It's okay. I'm an easy person to deal with." Rin chuckled at Angel's livid expression before walking away.

He tugged at Mephisto's sleeve to get his attention. "If you don't bring me home so I can sleep, I'm going to murder everyone in this damn room." He threatened with a poker face and a flat voice that hid a murderer in its depths.

"Oh dear, we've got a grouchy demon boy on our hands." Mephisto tittered.

The demon snapped Rin to his dorm room and left, dreading the paperwork he'd get from this trial.


	5. Toraya Ryokan

"You've been angry for a while now." Rin commented as he batted away the balls being shot at him from the machine. He and Yukio were in the training room. Rin had a different schedule for Cram School that eliminated any classes with skills he wouldn't be taking the Exorcist Qualification Exam for.

"I'm not angry." Yukio denied immediately.

"Nah, you're pissed. Whenever you get angry, Nii-chan always knows." Rin lilted, teasing.

"At most, you were only born a couple of hours before me. Please don't try to act like an older brother." Yukio snorted.

"Pfffft, I may not give a shit about anything or anyone in particular, but I'm still allowed to be your older brother." Rin scoffed.

"You shouldn't have been so quick to draw the sword! Your classmates hate you and you're under surveillance now!" Yukio finally snapped at him.

"And?"

Yukio paused. "I can't believe you. How can you live like that?! Not caring, not feeling any emotions. You don't even feel upset over your classmates hating you, and you probably didn't even like them in the first place! You never listen to me and you do anything you can to irritate me. You do whatever the hell you want with no feelings of regret or remorse when you hurt others or yourself!" Yukio looked at him through the grate.

"Easy: Someone wanted to hurt me and they succeeded. They did so well, in fact, that I can't even feel remorse for stressing you out so much." Rin's voice was soft like Yukio had never heard before. "I've never felt sorry for being like this, though. It's not my fault I'm like this. As much as I wish sometimes that I could understand people better, I just can't, and that's my life. There's nothing I can do about that, Yukio. But this," Rin glanced around the training room, at his sword. "This is nice. I have something to do with myself that isn't so boring and pointless. The contentment I feel from being productive and the satisfaction of fighting someone that might be able to beat me are the strongest emotions I've felt in a long time."

Yukio looked at him and saw he was smiling just slightly.

He rolled his eyes.

"You heard about my deal with the Vatican? I'm safe for now. If I don't pass, then I'll die. Either way, I don't really care. Think of it this way: you can finally be rid of the horrid, heartless thing called your brother and it can be just Yukio." Rin shrugged nonchalantly, like he hadn't just said he didn't mind being executed if he failed to uphold his end of the unfair deal.

"Boy, that sounds lonely." Shura said before Yukio could respond, making her entrance with a big bag that smelled strongly of wax.

"Nice jammies, Boobzilla." Rin commented. "Whatever, you're the one looking too comfortable with your tail out like a monkey." The woman shot back.

"That's my cue to leave." Yukio got up and left, so it was only Rin and Shura in the training room.

"Yay! Now we don't have Scaredy to spoil our fun!" Shura cheered. "Now, onto training." Turns out the bag was filled with a shit-ton of candles, which explained why it smelled like someone melted fifty boxes of crayons in it.

"Light the wicks of the candles on the outside, but not the middle one." She ordered. Rin frowned. He didn't like his flames. They were hard for him to co trol precisely. Whenever he used them, troublesome things happened and got him into shit he didn't sign up for.

"Oh don't give me that pouty face! It's easy. Just think something like 'Pop!' Like the spark on a lighter or somethin'." Shura explained. Rin sighed and began concentrating, sitting across cross on the floor of the training room.

At first, he couldn't even summon the flames. Then, he summoned too much of them and they melted the candles into puddles of wax over and over again. Shura watched for a short while, wondering how this kid had seemingly infinite patience. Someone with detachment as strong as Rin's would surely get at least a _little_ annoyed if they couldn't accomplish something, couldn't they? But Rin was living proof that that apparently wasn't the case.

He sat there in the same spot, unmoving aside from his tail, lighting the candles and burning them over and over and over again for hours.

Finally, Shura's ringtone went off.

"Huh? Yes, he's here with me. Yeah, still. He hasn't even moved from that same spot. He also hasn't eaten, come to think of it. What's that? Yeah. Okay. Yup. See ya over there. Later Scaredy." She put her phone back in her pocket and stood up, stretching.

She poked Rin's shoulder and he looked up at her in question. "Come on, I have a mission. There's been an incident at Northern Cross and I gotta take you with me since I'm your guard. I'll pick up some food on the way." She told him. Rin got up and stretched, looking sourly at the candles.

"Aw, it's okay. Next time." Shura couldn't help but feel bad for the kid. He may not have seemed irritated for the couple hours he'd sat trying to light those candles, but he was obviously vexed by the fact that he couldn't control his fire when it seemed like such a simple task.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin stayed back with the Senior Exorcists and the sick while Shura helped the Doctors and Yukio went inside the building to investigate. He didn't feel like doing anything else after expending most of his energy and patience on those stupid candles.

So, he sat on the curb away from the sick, eating his burger and fries. Fast food was something he rarely ate since he could usually only stand to eat his own food. His taste buds had always been super sensitive to tarts and he'd had a hard time eating things until he'd perfected his own cooking skills so he could enjoy food.

So usually, he hated fast food. But somehow, he found this meal delicious. Maybe it was because he hadn't eaten out in years and forgot what food that wasn't his tasted like. Maybe trying to control his fire so much fried his taste buds. There was no way to know.

Out of nowhere, his sensitive hearing picked up shouting and gunshots from inside the building Yukio had gone into. Okay, now he was interested. He wrapped up and set down his half eaten burger and sprinted to the rickety building. He decided going up stairs and down hallways was too much work, so he climbed the outside, using window sills and old air conditioners as hand and foot holds.

It seemed he had perfect timing bursting through the wall, because he hit the old guy who'd called him a kid before. He actually kicked him right in the side. Yukio had his gun out, the sick little boy behind him. Once Rin got a proper look at Todou, he realized what had happened. Todou was possessed by some kind of demon. He had his hazmat suit off and appeared to be immune to the weak miasma floating around, like Rin.

The older man tried to recover, but Rin jumped on him. The man fell to his knees in surprise, grappling with the half-demon. He finally found the strength to throw Rin off of him and tried to make a run for it. Rin grabbed his ankles and dragged him back. He glanced over to see if Yukio and the kid were out. Thankfully, they were.

Todou eventually got sick of fighting Rin when some alarm went off and claws slid out, stabbing the half-demon in the chest. Rin groaned. They'd gone deeper than expected and carved into the muscle of his chest. Todou was able to make his escape, leaving Rin groaning on the floor. He barely made it out the window before the whole place imploded on itself.

Yukio had returned the kid to his mom after giving him a vaccine. The mother was hugging Yukio and thanking him. Rin went back and retrieved his food, which surprisingly wasn't stolen.

"Rin, how did you know I needed help?" Yukio wondered. "I didn't. I wanted to see what happened since you had to use your gun." Rin answered. Yukio seemed shocked, for some reason. Rin didn't know why, because Yukio knew him. He caught Yukio muttering, "But you were right on time...."

Rin offered him some fries to shut him up and Yukio took them. They sat there for a few minutes, sharing the fast food in silence.

Shura had summoned some Naga to track down the stolen Left Eye of the Impure King. Yukio was supposed to be on the team following the snake demon when they departed. Rin thought having the dorm to himself would be nice.

§~•~§~•~§

"Get up and start packing, kid." Shura tapped his shoulder. "Why?" He asked. He was in the middle of picking out a new knife to carry around since he'd lost the first one during the fight with Amaimon in the forest.

"You're coming with me to Kyoto. You can't go anywhere without a guard and I'm the one here and they want me there. So I gotta bring you along. Pack your stuff. Then we'll go to the train station." She explained briefly, pulling him up. He sighed. Of course he couldn't just stay here and enjoy his summer break without his brother nagging at him for once.

He got up and began packing. Shirts, pants, hoodie, other necessities. He spotted his favorite belt–a belt he'd gotten as a present from Mephisto after the Trial that had sheathes to hold knives lining it. He debated leaving it behind, but ended up taking it. It might be useful. He finished packing his things and was ready to go.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin stared uncaringly back at the pissed look on Suguro's face when he saw the half-demon already in the train car designated for the ExWires, examining one of his knves he'd sheathed in his belt.

"Why the hell are you here?!" The taller teen growled. "My guard is needed and I have to go everywhere she goes, so I have no choice." Rin responded.

"B-Bon, please don't start anything." Konekomeru was quaking. It probably wasn't helping that Rin flashed his fangs just to mess with the short boy.

"I know, I know." The teen grumbled, moving to sit behind Rin.

"Really? You complain about my being here and hate my guts, but you sit behind me? That makes no sense." Rin shook his head. Suguro looked like he was going to blow a fuse and Rin was tempted to laugh. This was too fun. Suguro was easily pissed off at the smallest of things.

"You shut your mouth, demon!" Suguro barked. Rin really did laugh that time before whipping around, the knife in his hand poised right in front of Suguro's face.

"Why don't you take your own advice? My patience for today has already run out, so I don't feel like dealing with you and your whining over things that don't matter or affect you at all." He gave a dry smile. Suguro looked down at the knife blade and gulped.

Shiemi was looking worriedly between them from across the car, having come in during the argument. Something was wrong with Rin.

Normally, he was uncaring and calm. Now, he was being scary and threatening. But she could see through it. It was a front. Something was different about the look in his eyes. Deep down, no matter how small, a part of him was hurting. It was tired and hurting, even if he didn't know it.

Yukio had told her that Rin was emotionally detached. He'd said that meant that Rin had no feelings. That he was heartless. He told her just to give up on Rin. And that was when Shiemi swore that she'd get through to Rin, no matter what. Even if he thought she was annoying, she'd still follow him around and be nice to him, no matter what.

Kamiki came in and sat down next to Rin and Shiemi smiled. Kamiki at the least seemed to understand Rin a little bit. She even gave a whole speech about people having demon blood and working for the Order. She also called out Suguro, who tried to get up and snap back at her, but Rin jumped up before him and held his knife at the boy's throat.

"I'm not going to hold another one of those damn Bariyon on my lap, and if you wake her up, I'll cut you." He threatened in harsh whispers, alluding to Shura napping in the seats a few town in front of them. Shiemi giggled. He was probably bluffing. He wouldn't hurt Suguro. Suguro was his friend!

The rest of the ride was spent on tense silence until they got to the train station in Kyoto.

§~•~§~•~§

A woman who had the same hair and angry goblin expression as Bon when angry greeted them and accepted a gift from Shura before most of the group split up to go do things after she gave her son an earful for frying his hair like a rooster's. That would be stored in Rin's mind for blackmail if he ever needed it.

He was told to go ask a teacher what to do after not being allowed around the sick and went full circle to all the Cram School teachers until he gave up. Eventually, an old man that also looked similar to Suguro asked him to cut watermelon. Looking at his robes that were much nicer than any of the other men around the temple, Rin figured he was the High Priest–Suguro's dad.

"So you and Ryuji must be friends then?" The man asked hopefully. Rin shook his head. "No. He doesn't like me very much." He answered.

"Ah, you too huh? He and I are kind of in the middle of a spat too. He's a hard one to get along with." Tatsuma sighed.

"He's a jerk and gets angry at the tiniest things. It's annoying and makes it almost impossible to get along with him." Rin pointed out. "Wow, you're frank." Tatsuma blinked in surprise.

"Your wife said that when I told her she was pretty." Rin said offhandedly. Tatsuma laughed. Rin recognized the smell of alcohol on his breath immediately.

"It's a little early to be drinking. Do it at night when no one can see you." Rin told him. "Ah, I've been found out! It's so hot outside today, I just couldn't resist!" Tatsuma laughed.

"You kind of remind me of Shiro." Rin said. "Shiro? Fujimoto?" Tatsuma wondered. Rin nodded, side-eying him.

"Oh, so you must be his son!" Tatsuma recalled the mentioned 'demonic' baby boy in one of Shiro's letters to him a long time ago. Looking at that same boy now, he realized Shiro had meant that literally and not that Rin was a difficult kid to care for. "Okumura Rin. My brother is probably the one you want. He's the people pleaser." Rin didn't look up from the melons as he spoke, cutting the first one evenly in half.

"Oh, there's another one?" Tatsuma seemed genuinely shocked. Rin nodded.

"Yukio my fraternal twin. People call him a genius. Became an Exorcist at thirteen. He got in on a scholarship to True Cross, just like Suguro. He's just like the rest of them now. Prick, stick up his ass, never relaxes or eats properly, always nagging at me 24/7 for saying what no one else will." Rin explained, cutting the halves into fourths.

"Heh, you two don't get along with him either, eh? You sound like you're worried about him. And what about you? How'd you get into True Cross?" Tatsuma wondered.

"I'm not worried about him, I'm saying he's an idiot and if he doesn't want help, then I won't give it to him." Rin corrected bluntly, slicing the melon in smaller slices. Tatsuma winced at the harsh words.

"I didn't want to go to highschool. But Shiro died and Mephisto promised him to be our guardian if anything happened to him, so I have to go to his stupid school and try to fit in with all the rich assholes who used to try and jump me in the streets. He's doing an absoloute shit job at being a Dad–Shiro would be proud of how neglectful he is of me." Rin drawled.

"So what makes you so different from everyone else, hm?" The old priest pressed curiously.

"Well, when I was six, there was in incident that gave me bad PTSD for a short time and then I completely shut down and the next time I visited the psychologist, she declared me severely emotionally detached due to trauma at such a young age. It means I don't really feel emotions much, don't sympathize with people, and I don't help people unless they ask because I don't give a shit. If things get too troublesome or diffult, I just leave. It's easy for me to drop things like that." Rin explained.

He didn't sound resigned, didn't sound annoyed or sad. Didn't sound happy or overjoyed either. This poor boy didn't know what it was like to feel....

"And you've never re-learned how to feel emotions to their full extent since? Isn't that sad?" Tatsuma questioned. "I wouldn't know." Rin shrugged.

With a jolt, Tatsuma realized he needed to go and complete his duties for the day. So he got up, said good-bye, and left Rin with the watermelons.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin watched the five adults fight amongst the sick. Suguro stepped in and put up a shield between the snake women and the men who looked like carbon copies of Shima with different hair colors. He yelled at them for spreading discord within their ranks when they were dealing with an unknown enemy. Surprisingly, the lead snake woman back-talked him and Rin thought she was in for it, but Suguro just took the insult to his father and himself and agreed with her. So much for respecting your parents. Suguro was anything but respectful to anyone who didn't fit what he thought they should be.

As the teen turned away to leave and Rin walked in to give out watermelon, the half-demon snickered. "I hope you realize that you're taking it like wimp just letting her walk on you like that, not taking it like a man." He commented. Oh, that got him going.

"You keep your mouth shut, you lying heathen!" Suguro spat,glaring daggers as Rin gave out fruit and recieved compliments.

Rin bent down to give the adults who'd been fighting earlier some melon slices. "Oi, don't give them a treat! They could have hurt somebody!" Suguro snapped. Rin gave him a deadpan stare. "I was told to give these to the sick. I'm doing my job." He said plainly. "Oh, you're nice, mister!" One of the younger snake girls chirped. The one next to her even patted his head. He almost snorted. _I'm not a dog...._

"Besides, who told you to hand those out anyways?! Wait, I bet you stole them, didn't you?!" The older teen continued rambling on, not noticing the demon had already stopped listening. He kept on talking until:

"I bet you probably poisoned them. You're probably trying to kill the people in this room right n-hggghh?!" He nearly choked as Rin took a slice of watermelon and shoved it in the boy's mouth. "That's a little overdramatic, Suguro. Calm down, I don't even want to be here, but I have to. If you don't like me, literally just don't talk to me." Rin said.

"G-Get away from Bon!" Konekomeru ran forward, attempting to grab Rin's wrist and wrench it away from his friend. Key word: attempting. Rin stepped back and turned to walk past them, easily dodging the hand reaching for him. "Woah, he's fast!" Shima gasped as Rin brushed last them and out of the room.

§~•~§~•~§

While Izumo was with Shiemi as the blomde cried in the garden, she saw Rin on the roof above. He was trying to light candles with his flames, but the flames kept burning the entire candles. It seemed Rin was actually annoyed. He looked to be frowning just slightly. How long had he been doing that?

"Hey, I said light the wicks, not the rooftop!" Kirigakure-sensei's voice rang out from behind him. Rin sighed and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

Izumo scoffed. Suguro and the others were just being dumb. This guy never did anything worth getting pissy over! He was lazy and didn't particularly care about anyone or anything. So what was the point in hating him? He'd saved their asses, hadn't he? That was just about the only real thing he'd done for them, but it was huge.

She got back to picking herbs and insulting Shiemi.

§~•~§~•~§

Later in the day, Rin finally did it. He thought of the spark from a lighter and there it was. He lit the wicks perfectly. He stared intensely, daring the flames to flicker out of control, but they didn't.

"Shura, I did it." He called, a tired note to his voice as he yawned. The woman closed her book and was shocked to see the candles lit perfectly. "Wh-I missed it! Do it again!" She demanded.

Rin scowled and turned back. He pinched the wicks to put them out. He wasn't fully confident he could do it again. He was tired and hadn't eaten since that morning, so his energy was low. And these flames annoyed him.

He concentrated, closing his eyes, and thinking of a lighter spark again. Just a spark.

The candles lit up and stayed, flickering. "Woah....you did it!" Shura cheered. Rin gave a half smile. He just wanted to eat and then sleep. Shura hugged him tightly and he supposed he should reciprocate at least a little so she didn't bat him on the head with her book, so he leaned his head on her shoulder in a half-assed hug. It wasn't much, but Shura took it. Then she sent Rin down to join the ExWires and get food.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin knew Shura had accidentally switched the bags of juice and alcohol as soon as he'd opened the can, but he wouldn't mind forgetting today because it was a particularly irritating one. So he drank the alcohol willingly, sitting across a path from Shima on a rock.

The alcohol gave him a pleasant buzz and didn't taste too bad, so he kept drinking it. Shima hesitantly moved closer.

"You're really not that bad, Okumura-kun. You don't really do anything do you? You're kinda like a guinea pig, actually–boring, but funny when you wanna be." The pink haired boy laughed.

"Sure." Rin answered. His speech was slurred and he looked tired, but that seemed to be the only effect the drink had on him.

"Why _don't_ you do anything? Bon is always trash talking you, you know." Shima claimed, wanting to see the boy's reaction.

"I know. But tha's just him bein' a huge dick. He's like a lil' kid with anger issues. Jus' leave 'im be and he'll fuck of eventually. I only mess with 'im 'cuz he reacts so dramatically." Rin answered simply, only properly pronouncing half his words.

"Hah, yeah. I'm supposed to protect him and all, but it's hard when he keeps doing stupid things." Shima sighed. "I think Bon is just mad that you didn't trust us about your dad."

"Pretty sure he hates me 'cuz o' my Dad. Everybody does. It has nothin' ta do with trust at all. He's a huge baby and I'm a guy who only ever has better comebacks than 'im." Rin slurred, shrugging.

They sat in silence after that. Eventually, Shima realized Rin had fallen asleep sitting up. He chuckled and woke him up to get Rin on his back. He carried the demon boy to his room on his back. Rin surprisingly wasn't that heavy.

Shima decided that Rin wasn't so bad, even if he didn't particularly care for most things or people around him. Because Shima understood that. He only cared for a select few people and while Rin didn't realize it, he cared about Yukio in his own detached way–checking up on him, though it always sounded teasing or rude.

Shima wondered what would happen if Rin had friends that cared about him enough just as he was. Would he learn how to understand and feel things fully again or would he stay the same emotionally, but understand people better?

Shima decided staying away from Rin was more troublesome than being around him and left to go check up on Bon to see if he'd also drank the alcohol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I myself have a minor case of emotional detachemt because of *ahem* a lot of truama in my preteen years when I was learning how to be a person, so I know how it feels to not understand how people can feel the way they do so strongly when it doesn't seem like a huge deal to me. But the detachment only comes for me when things get too stressful and I just can't deal with the anxiety(so you can imagine quarantine is going with me trying to keep up with school). *Anxiety Prime*
> 
> My detachment used to be much worse, though I was never officially diagnosed bc my parents are typical millennials who believe there's no way their kids could be messed up. It's taken me around four years to this day to really get back to feeling and understanding things the way I should, so it is possible for detached people to re-learn emotions. With Rin, it may be more difficult because he's grown up with that and still can't even remember what happened to cause it due to the memories being so traumatizing that they're very deeply repressed.


	6. Locked Up

The next morning, Rin found he'd succeeded in letting the alcohol take most his memories away of the previous day. Conveniently enough, he did remember how he'd controlled his flames enough to light the two candles along with the tiny part of him that preened at Shura's congratulations. He dismissed it as satisfaction.

Shima sat next to him at the breakfast table and acted like they were friends, which Rin didn't mind as long as they got wasn't annoying. Konekomeru, of course, flipped out about it. Suguro ignored them all in favor of trying to deal with his hangover. Rin couldn't relate, he didn't have a hangover when he woke up, lucky him.

While Rin was still eating his breakfast, the blonde Shima clone from before came flying in. Rin acted on reflex, grabbing Shima and pulling him to his body right before the guy would've kicked him in the head. Maybe if he helped Shima, he'd have someone on his side if he had to do anything against the typical morals humans had. "Kin-nii what the hell?! You idiot!" Shima cried. Ah, so that was his older brother.

"That was obviously a flying kick! _You're_ the idiot, Renzou!" The blonde man cried, clutching his head. Another man came in behind the blonde. He had dark hair. "Hello there. I'm Juzo, this guy's oldest brother. That's Kinzou, the family idiot." He introduced. Rin nodded in acknowledgement. "Renzou, who's your friend over here?" Juzo asked. "Oh, that's Okumura." Shima answered. Rin rolled his eyes. He stuck his hand out to shake.

"Okumura Rin. I'm an ExWire like Shima." He introduced himself with his normal amount of enthusiasm, drawing a snicker from Shima.

"Hey, we were gonna go to the pool and swim since it's hot outside, wanna come?" Kinzou offered.

"Sure." Rin shrugged. It was a way to beat the heat.

"Excuse you, who said you were done training?!" Shura popped up and grabbed him in a headlock. Rin twisted out of her grip, grabbed her arm, and judo flipped her onto the table.

"Me." He answered, walking out with the Shima boys. "I'll train later."

The Shima brothers stared at the barely dressed woman on the table as they left the room.

§~•~§~•~§

"That damn brat!" Shura growled. Yukio, who'd just arrived, side-eyed her curiously. "What'd he do?" He questioned warily.

"He wanted to go to the pool and I told him he had to train." She answered, rubbing her back.

"Did he judo flip you?" Yukio guessed.

"Yeah! Right onto the table too!"

Yukio actually laughed. "I'm sorry, I should've told you. He does have a lot of patience, but when he decides he wants to do something, you have to _ask_ if he'll do what you want him to do. If you _tell_ him he has to, he'll judo flip you to get you out of the way and go do what he wants." He explained.

"You Four-eyed Chicken!" Shura cried, punching him lightly on the shoulder. Then Yukio turned serious. "But if he's doing something important, don't get in his way, Shura. He'll fight you, and he'll win, no matter how dirty he has to play. He has no shame and no sense of duty to anyone. Even me." He warned.

Shura doubted that Rin had no loyalty to Yukio, heavily hidden as it was, but nodded.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin jumped up, hitting the beach ball over to Kinzou, who passed it to Renzou. He'd never swum in a pool before. And he'd only ever gotten his feet wet at the beach after the one time Shiro had taught him how to swim. This was entertaining enough to keep him occupied for a while. The water was nice and cool too.

He figured he'd get out in the afternoon. After lunch, he'd go to train with Shura. Hopefully, she wouldn't make him train with his flames again. He'd had enough of the stupid things. He wanted to use his knife, or maybe even the sword. She'd tried to take it from him, but as she was putting it in her seal, he grabbed her arm and took it back out.

For some reason, it made her shriek like a surprised parrot. Did it hurt her when he did it, or was it the fact that his hand was close to her bare torso? It almost made him smile. The woman who wore no decent nothing freaked out over a teenage boy getting close to her exposed body.

He wondered if his brother had arrived in Kyoto yet. Hopefully, he wouldn't scold Rin for flipping Shura, but she was asking for it. He did what he wanted and no one would stop him. If they did, he'd get them _out_ of his way. He wasn't allowed to cut her or seriously physically harm her, so he just flipped her onto the table to move her out of his way.

What a troublesome woman he had for a guardian.

§~•~§~•~§

"Alright, Yukio told me you're pretty good with that knife, so we'll see how good you are with a sword." Shura told him. He obediently unsheathed Kurikara.

Halfway through their session, smoke drifted up from a building far away, a loud explosion sounding across the rooftops. "Smoke?" Shura murmured. Rin was off, jumping rooftop to rooftop, before she was. Finally, some excitement.

"Hey, wait up, fire-brat!" Shura called, following him across the rooftops.

They made their way underground, pushing through the crowd of people.   
In the middle was Suguro and his dad. Rin didn't particularly care until Suguro looked like he was going to hit his father. Rin quickly jumped into the mix, ignoring Shura's surprised cry. He jumped between them, catching Suguro's raised arm.

"What the hell Okumura?!" Suguro tried to get his arm out of the half-demon's grip. "Suguro, calm down. Every family has their secrets. He can't tell you whatever you want to know." He said, ever the voice of sound logic, not at all flinching at the teen's withering glare. "Rin?" Tatsuma questioned. _Did he know?!_

"What would _you_ know?! Get outta my way!" Suguro growled.

"More than _you._ The man who raised me had a lot of secrets. I understood that he couldn't tell me and left it alone. Some things are better left buried under lies or just never spoken." He insisted. It might've helped if he actually had emotion in his voice, but he had the same monotonous, bored tone as always.

"Rin, it's okay. I _was_ a bad father." Tatsuma laughed sheepishly. Rin could see through it. He had to get away immediately. Something urgent. But he didn't want to leave the argument with his son a d further notice Suguro's point.

"No, it's not okay." He pushed the man away. "But go. Do what you need to do." Tatsuma nodded in thanks to him and ran off. _He's pretty fast for an old man...._

Suguro caught Rin by surprise by yanking on his tail with the hand Rin wasn't holding. The half-demon was so surprised that he forgot to control his flames and they burst out of him before he collapsed on the ground in pain. It was more painful than anything he'd ever felt. Just to rub it in, Suguro stepped on his hand, grinding the bones under his boot for good measure.

"Stay out of my family matters, you demon." He hissed. Rin growled and grabbed Suguro's knee, pulling him down with him. He climbed on top of Suguro and was getting ready to punch him square in the jaw when blinding pain once again swept through him.

Shura was chanting a spell for the binder on his tail. He rolled off of Suguro, writhing in pain on the ground until tears ran down his face. He'd felt pain before. But nothing compared to the abhorrent feeling running through him. His spine was on fire. His limbs wouldn't listen to him and he could only roll on the ground in pain. A piercing sound rang in his ears, his ear drums felt like they'd burst. He heard a noise that sounded like a demon shrieking and realized it was himself, screaming in pain as the binder on his tail tightened around the most sensitive part of it.

Finally, Shura stopped, answering her phone. "Yeah, I'll be right there." She turned to the bystanders in the Branch Office, ignoring the passed out Rin on the ground.

"Hey, can somebody take care of him?" She asked the men around them before leaving. Tatsuma had slipped something in her back pocket when he'd dashed out the door and she was curious as to what it was.

§~•~§~•~§

"Bon, are you okay?" Konekomeru asked gently.

"Kirigakure-sensei chanted something and he freaked out. He looked like he was in pain and he was s reaming like he was burning alive. He was crying, for Buddha's sake!" Suguro fretted, elbows balanced on his knees as he remembered the horrible screams Rin had produced.

"He....cried?!" Konekomeru backed up in shock. "Yeah, and it was the both saddest and the most painful thing I've ever seen. He hasn't felt anything for most of his life. Being in pain out of nowhere shocked him so bad he cried and I could see how betrayed he felt when he realized who was doing that to him." Suguro ran a hand through his hair.

"I think it was a spell for the binder on his tail. Demon tails are very sensitive. That must have been horrible!" The shorter boy decided. He was still scared of the son of Satan, but that must have hurt Rin a lot if he'd reacted so extremely.

"Man, that was cruel." Shima sighed, walking in.

"What happened?" Konekomeru asked.

"They locked him up in a cell. Even chained him to the wall too." The pink haired boy sighed.

"Even for Okumura, that's a bit much." Suguro admitted. Shima shrugged. "They didn't even _need_ to lock him up. He's harmless as long as you don't piss him off."

"Nah, he's a monster. He needs to be locked up just in case." Suguro stated.

"Come on, Bon. What did he do to you? He's not that bad. It's not his fault he was born the son of Satan. It's not even his fault he has no feelings. All he's ever done to you is have better comebacks when you wanna open your mouth to be a jerk." Shima argued.

"Why are you sticking up for him?! His father killed my parents! He killed your oldest brother! He ruined our temple! Those flames are cursed!" Konekomeru cried. "I never knew Takezo. I don't know why people expect me to feel bad. We were newborns. We don't remember." Shima responded.

"I have no parents! I have nothing!" The small boy shrieked.

"We gave you a home. We took you in and raised you. Do you hate us?" Shima raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what the hell Konekomeru?! Do you hate us or somethin'?" Suguro turned on him.

"What?! No, I don't hate you! I hate Okumura and his father! They cursed us!" Konekomeru stomped his foot.

"Okumura didn't do anything. He just had the bad luck of having Satan as a dad." Shima pointed out.

"Who's side are you on?!" Konekomeru asked incredulously.

"Isn't it obvious? Okumura's not our enemy. He's fighting with us, not against us." And with that, Shima left them to think about their decisions.


	7. Impure King

Rin woke up on the floor. It was cold, hard, and dirty. He let out a groan and dropped his head back on the floor. His entire body was sore. The worst places were his tail and spine.

It smelled like dirt and mildew in the cell. There was a bucket full of water in the corner. Heavy metal cuffs with chains attached to the wall weighed him down and he realized he was really hungry. The bars to his cell left little to no space to see through, but he saw Shura come down the hallway and stop in front of him.

"You finally awake?" She asked gruffly. She regretted chanting the spell, but there was nothing she could do now.

"Feel like shit." He mumbled, staying on the ground. She bit her lip.

"The Vatican has decided to hold a trial and execution." She told him. He let out a non-committal grunt.

"Both eyes have been stolen by Saburota Todou and Hojo Mamushi. We assume they will wake the Impure King." She continued on. Just then, Yukio joined them.

"How did you even get in here? You do _nothing._ You don't even care. So tell me how the _hell_ you got yourself stuck in here." He growled. Rin looked at Shura.

"It was my fault." Shura blurted. "Suguro tried to hit his dad and Rin wouldn't let him because Tatsuma really needed dto char e after Mamushi when she took off with the Right Eye. So Suguro yanked Rin's tail and he flamed up and then they started fighting and I didn't know what else to do, so I chanted the spell for the binder on his tail." She explained quickly.

Yukio turned back to Rin, question on his face. "Why? Why'd you get in between them?" He asked Rin.

"It's entertaining when people fight. Especially family. Reminds you this world is full of shit and disappointment and that I don't have to care about any of it because I lost all those feelings. But his dad needed to take off and Suguro was being a brat." Rin explained, shrugging and making the chains jangle.

"And you lost control. Great job there, Brother. God, you're sick." Yukio scoffed. Rin huffed. "Hey, at least you won't have to deal with me anymore after today."

"Stop saying that! I'll see what I can do. I'm not letting you die on my watch. Shiro would murder me!" Shura groaned, pulling at her hair. "Kirigakure-san! Yaozo-sama needs you!" An Exorcist called. Shura sighed again in frustration. She gave a slip of paper to Yukio. "Tatsuma gave this to me. It's for Rin." She told him before running off.

"....."

"She _does_ realize Shiro is dead and actually can't murder her?"

Yukio ignored his twin and looked at the paper, trying to decide whether or not to give it to his brother. He decided to, but Rin couldn't read it, so he ended up reading it anyways.

It told them how Tatsuma met Shiro and how he helped the sick, then got away with Kurikara thanks to Suguro's dad. At the end, Rin laughed. "That didn't work out well, did it?" He cackled.

"Can't you ever just be grateful for him saving you?! I know you're fucking heartless, but please, _try!_ " Yukio groaned.

"Fine, I guess I'll help 'em before I go." Rin decided. "After you get me some food though." He added. Yukio rolled his eyes.

"I shouldn't even be letting you do this." He muttered, getting the keys. He unlocked Rin's cell, waiting for him to get up. He didn't. He slowly pushed himself up on his arms and Yukio ended up helping him up and letting Rin lean on him. They went by the kitchen and grabbed a couple onigiri before running into Mephisto on their way out of the building.

"I want to see how you'll do, so I'll provide you supplies, but don't expect me to always help you, Darling~!" He claimed, handing Rin a bunch of folded camo ponchos he'd summoned. Then he was on his merry way, twirling his pink umbrella and enjoying his blue popsicle.

§~•~§~•~§

"I need you guys to help Rin." Yukio said.

"You want us to what?!" Konekomeru squeaked.

"Please. I know he doesn't really connect with anyone and you have no reason to help, but please. He doesn't care whether he lives or dies and there's no one else to care for him except Shura and I. He needs someone to show him. Teach him what it's like to live." He pleaded. He could insult his brother all he wanted, but he cared about Rin. He missed how Rin used to be, before that incident when they were six. He'd become an Exorcist to protect Rin from things like that.

Suguro read the letter handed to him. "Ah, fine. Guess I'll help." He growled.

"Rin needs someone to save him." Shiemi agreed. Izumo, Shima, and finally Konekomeru followed their lead and they went off on their own to find Rin while Yukio reported to Yaozo and Uwabami to help.

§~•~§~•~§

"Hey, Okumura! Let's go, we gotta stop the Impure King from getting any farther down the mountain!" Suguro ordered, pulling the teen along by his hood.

"I can take him down by myself." Rin said.

"No you can't. You need help." Suguro told him. Rin rolled his eyes.

"Rin! Are you okay?! I heard Kirigakure-sensei hurt your tail!" Shiemi cried, running up and tugging on her friend's arm.

"I'm fine." He answered.

"I'll have to talk to her about it. That was uncalled for!" Shiemi claimed. Rin's response was blowing hair out of his face in annoyance at the girl's clinging and mothering.

The group stopped at the edge of the forest. Most of it was already overtaken by the Impure King. "Huh. Looks kinda like a castle." Rin noted.

"Alright, what's the game plan?" Suguro turned to the rest of the group.

"Someone has to warn the others back at the Ryokan, so we'll go back." Shima volunteered himself and Konekomeru.

"Um....We have to find Suguro's dad, don't we? We'll come with you since I'm the only one close to a Doctor we have. Just in case he's hurt." Shiemi stuttered.

"Alright, I'll go with you guys. Sounds like a decent plan. But you really shouldn't help me, you're gonna die like idiots." Rin raised an eyebrow at them.

He received a slap on the back of the head from Suguro. "I'm not doing this for you! I need to find my dad, ya idiot!" He growled.

Rin shrugged. "Don't come after me when we're dead. I'll be in hell and I don't want any of you annoyances there with me." Rin grumbled.

They split up to do their jobs.

§~•~§~•~§

After Kamiki and Shiemi had carted off Tatsuma, Rin and Suguro had run into Kuro on the way up to make the shield.

Now, Kuro flew through the air, avoiding the Impure King's spores. Suguro was screaming like a maniac, holding on to Rin for dear life even though it was perfectly safe. They'd lost some time arguing over how to sit on the giant cat. Suguro didn't want to be held by either of Kuro tails, so Rin insisted he just sit behind him and hold on. Suguro complained, saying that was what girls did. But they were running out of time, so he eventually gave in.

Now, he was right up against the son of Satan, practically screaming in his ear. Rin was getting a headache from the annoying voice and finally snapped. "Suguro, if you don't shut up, I'm cutting your vocal cords!" He yelled behind him over the wind. The teen went oddly quiet. Rin sighed. "What?"

"Never heard you yell before." Suguro yelled back, sounding almost like a shocked child. Rin snorted.

"No reason to! Things don't usually bother me enough to get yelled at! Unlike my brother, who might as well spend his every waking moment yelling! With the wind, I can't really hear much!" Rin hollered.

"Why do you always trash your brother?!" Suguro accused.

"Because he's annoying and I wouldn't mind if he lost his ability to speak anytime soon!"

" _Rin! I can't find anywhere where the Impure King isn't touching!_ " Kuro mewed. Rin scanned the mountain below. They needed to be close to the Sporangium. Finally, Rin spotted an area of bare rock that hadn't been touched.

They landed and Suguro gasped. "It's huge! At this rate, we really _won't_ make it out!"

Rin hit him over the head with the sword. "You're supposed to be making that shield. Hurry up!" He commanded, unsheathing the katana. Like always, the blue flames sprouted from his body and covered him and the blade. He sniffed in disdain. He really did hate these flames. They were hard to control. It had taken him almost a month just to light some candles.

Rin did his best to slice through the spores and burn them up. Kuro batted them away with his paws, roaring.

Suguro held one finger on the ground, the gold shield sprouting from him. He was a wreck–hair plastered on his face, sweat beading his brow, clothes ripped and boils appearing on his face from the few spores that had reached him before. Rin was getting tired. He couldn't really make any headway to get to the Sporangium and it looked ready to burst. He knew Suguro would fall soon. Then he'd be alone. So much for teamwork. Rin snorted to himself. The Impure King let out a scream, the huge bubble bursting and spreading a huge wave of miasma over the mountain.

It flooded their lungs and Rin dropped to his knees, coughing and hacking. Kuro roared and slashed at the spores around the two teens with his claws, protecting them.

"Guys, I can only hold it for about fifteen more minutes, at most." Suguro coughed. Rin shakily got to his feet. The Impure King was almost complete in his castle design. Rin decided that he might as well try one last time. He began climbing, the spores trying to grip his body only to be burned away. Halfway up to the point he set his sights on, the shield flickered and then fell.

"Kuro, go protect Suguro." He ordered. The cat nodded and flew back.

He made it to the highest point he could reach without being consumed by the demon, facing the Impure King. He took a deep breath.

He'd realized something: If he wanted to fight with these flames, he needed to accept them first. He willed the flames to grow, to burn hotter, to be stronger. His energy was already waning, but he forced everything he had left into the flames.

Rin didn't expect any help, but he got it. Ucchusma, the burning impurity appeared. Said some shit that Rin didn't really listen to. Then Rin had to recite what Ucchusma was chanting to perform a purification ritual over the entire mountain. Ucchusma merged with Rin's sword and became blue as they chanted.

As he chanted the ancient words that came to his mind without trouble, he felt power rush through his veins. His flames increased tenfold. They filled him with something different. Something new. He didn't understand it, but the moment before he blasted, he barely remembered to try and make sure the flames didn't burn anyone and just hoped it worked.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin woke up and somehow managed to stumble back down the mountain to Bon, who was passed out on the ground with Kuro guarding him. Rin thought he was dead, but could hear the shallow breaths of the ExWire. He noted the fact that the teen's face wasn't sporting the boils from the miasma anymore

It was raining and Rin's felt the cold sink I to his bones. He'd just used all the fire he had to spare and he'd forgotten was feeling cold felt like until now. He shivered and promptly passed out right next to his comrade.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin came to full consciousness a while later. He couldn't tell how long he'd been out and it took him a while to figure out where he was–the Ryokan.

Rin shifted his gaze around the room. It seemed to be daytime, possibly morning. Shiemi was sleeping so close to him she might as well have been in the same bed. He blinked his eyes blearily, looking to his left to see Kuro with bandages around his middle.

He gave up on trying to see anything else up until he heard shifting near his head. Pink hair popped up from above him and he blinked, surprised at the sudden movement. "Oh. Shima. You're here too?" He said hoarsely. The pinkette grinned.

"Yeah. I didn't wanna go back to my parents' place, so I stayed here." He said, shrugging.

"I'm here too." A snappy voice sounded from behind a rice paper wall.

Kamiki. Of course. "So what happened to Tatsuma?" Rin wondered, his senses clearing up.

"He's fine now. He made it. He isn't he head priest anymore though. Oh and Bon is okay too." Shima answered. Rin hummed.

"I really need something to eat, but I don't think I can get up. Too tired." Rin groaned. Kamiki snorted bitchily.

"So you're more emotionally vulnerable when you're tired? Hah!" She laughed.

"Oh....good morning everyone." A soft voice spoke up. Rin mentally groaned. He didn't want her talking to him, it was too early to deal with her pacifist bullshit.

"Mornin' Flower Girl." Rin sighed.

"Oh, you're okay! Thank goodness! I....I have something to tell you!" She declared, hastily sitting up.

He looked at her, reluctant but slightly interested. _Please tell me she's not going to confess she's in love with me._

"Rin...I...I...I want you to know, I'll always be here to help you! We'll be friends forever and ever!" She shouted, cheeks reddening. Rin stared for a long moment. _Oh no, this is much worse. She'll never leave me alone now._

Shima howled with laughter at Rin's expression. "Dude, I'm sorry." He snickered. He misunderstood the situation, but the son of Satan let it be. He didn't care what people thought about him or anyone who hung around him. Let them assume and spread rumors.

For now, he'd just rest and continue fighting his way through life and doing whatever he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.) Rin is a hungry boi. B.) I don't think you guys notice all the memes and references I put in these stories. 
> 
> "Oh no, this is much worse" –Bruce Banner, Avengers.


	8. Entertainment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, I skipped the Kraken Arc that takes place directly after Kyoto because that Arc was mainly used to give Rin and Yukio a reason to argue and try(and fail) to understand their differences in canon. It's not needed in this story, so I skipped it. We'll just say the operation to get rid of the squid went smoothly and move on with life.

Rin stared across the classroom at the guy freaking out at his desk.

There was a demon waltzing around the room who'd been there since the beginning of the school year, and this guy could apparently see it now.

He tried not to snicker as the guy shrieked and stood up, alarmed, then realized he'd drawn everyone's attention. The teacher asked if he was okay and he said it was just a dream, but Rin knew.

The class laughed at the teacher's comment about waking up because summer break was over and the boy sat back down, embarrassed. But he still cringed away from the demon. He shoved his face into his arms when it passed by his desk.

After class, the end of school bell rang and the students rushed out. Rin walked up to the guy from earlier–Godaiin was his name–and grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Godaiin." He called. His classmate looked to see who'd grabbed him and whimpered at the sight of Rin's emotionless stare. "O-Okumura? Did you w-want something?" He squeaked. Rin let out a huff of amusement.

"Don't be so scared. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanted to talk to you." He waved his hand dismissively.

"O-Oh. About what?" 

"You can see the creepy critters crawling around the classroom too." It wasn't a question.

"Y-you can see them too?! I'm not going crazy?" Godaiin cried, desperate to know he wasn't the only one who saw the creatures.

Rin gave a wicked smirk and Godaiin backed away quickly. Something wrapped around his wrist and he screamed, stumbling forward when it pulled him closer to the teen. 

He looked down to see a slim appendage with sleek, silky fur against the bare skin of his wrist. "Calm down, I'm not hurting you." Rin rolled his eyes.

"M-monster! Monster! You're one of them!" Godaiin yelled, trying to get away.

"That's just rude." Rin's comment didn't really have any effect since he was still smirking like the Devil on Sabbath.

"I swear I won't do anything. Just don't freak out. You'll draw too much attention." The half-demon held his hands up in surrender, the tail doing the same, retracting from the boy's wrist and wrapping back around Rin's waist.

"Why are you talking to me then?" Godaiin watched the tail suspiciously. "Figured you should know it's not just you. The world you see, the demons you run away from. This is the world I live in." Rin looked at the coaltars. Only a few lurked around the school thanks to the barriers. Sometimes they came to to Rin, calling him Prince or Your Majesty. Other times they just swarmed around him and stuck to his clothes, chirping happily. 

He figured it was because everyone else was either too happy or too malevolent for them to cling to without getting rejected or absorbed, so they stuck with someone who was always neutral emotion-wise. They didn't bother him, so he let them stay.

"Y-You see this every day?" Godaiin stammered. Rin nodded. "S'not so bad. You get used to them. This entire school has barriers around it." He motioned to the borders of the Campus Town. "So only the small fry get in. We're safe." 

The teen looked a lot more reassured now. "O-Oh. Thank you." He bowed slightly. The ExWire raised a brow.

"Why?"

Godaiin smiled at him feebly. "You told me I'm safe. And made sure I didn't think I was crazy." Rin rolled his eyes.

"I just didn't want you disrupting class anymore. If my grades slip, my brother'll get on my ass." Rin turned away. 

"I thought you were a delinquent. Everyone tells stories about you. You're really not one for mercy, are you, Okumura-kun?" Godaiin laughed. Rin's frown twitched.

"Don't have any." He said after a moment.

"Oh come on, everyone has Mercy to give!" Godaiin insisted. 

Rin growled, fangs glinting in the light of the slowly setting sun and Godaiin backed up again.

"Trust me. There's no mercy to give. If you wanna know why, ask someone who knows me. I'm sick of explaining this over and over." With that final statement, the half-demon was on his way to Cram School.

§~•~§~•~§

"Hey Okumura, did you hear about the Festival?" Shima popped up to latch onto his arm as soon as he walked through the door. Suguro yelled at him for it, but the pink haired boy didn't relent.

"No, why?" Rin asked.

"It's gonna have a dance! But only couples can get in." Shima's continued. "And there'll be good food and a haunted house and all kinds of booths!" 

"And why do I care?" Rin questioned. 

"Because maybe going on a date with a girl will help you see the joys of life?" The ExWire shrugged. Rin snorted and sat down. Shima didn't stop pestering him until Shiemi walked in.

"Maybe you should ask her. Good luck man!" Shima suggested, patting Rin's shoulder and going back to his own seat, only to be chewed out by Suguro and Konekomeru.

"Hello, Rin! What were you and Shima talking about?" Shiemi greeted politely.

"The Festival." Rin answered.

"Oh! I'm going to be helping in the haunted house! What are you doing?" She asked excitedly.

"Dunno. We'll probably talk about it tomorrow in homeroom. Hopefully it won't be something involving socializing." The teen responded. Shiemi laughed and Yukio walked in.

§~•~§~•~§

"Not going either, Eyebrows?" Rin assumed. Izumo shook her head.

"I'm aiming to pass the exam in the first try." She huffed.

"Yeah, me too." Rin said, grinning at his own joke. Izumo didn't get it until she remembered what Okumura- sensei had told them about the deal Rin made with the Vatican about Rin having only one chance to pass. She let out a short laugh.

"Guess we'll see who makes the cut in a few months." She said, walking away.


	9. Festival

"So what's your class doing, Rin?" Yukio asked. It was one of the few times they'd spoken since Kyoto.

"A food booth. I'll be cooking." Rin answered. "You?"

"No idea. All I know is that I'm excused from helping if I volunteer as chaperone for the dance, so I'll be watching everyone else do whatever." The younger waved it off.

"You don't want to go to the dance with Shiemi?" Rin teased. Yukio blanched, face turning cherry red. "No, why the hell would you ask that?!"

Rin shrugged one shoulder. "You seem to like her. On top of that, you also seem pretty jealous that she follows me around like a puppy all the time." He pointed out.

"No, I just feel bad for her. If she likes you, she'll get her heart broken." Yukio shook his head in dismay.

"I warned her. Not my fault if she still likes me. But I'm not gonna just tell her to piss off either. She's pretty weak. Let her out into the real world and she'll be destroyed." Rin told him.

Yukio looked surprised. "You care? Even the littlest bit, huh? Maybe friends are good for you....." Yukio trailed off thoughtfully. Rin sighed. He honestly couldn't care less about her except for the fact that she was like a baby who was fifteen already and needed someone as a shield from society. "We're not friends, she's a nuisance that follows me around."

He finished up his math homework and went to make dinner.

§~•~§~•~§

"Hey, Eyebrows. I need you to help me." Rin started, walking up to Izumo after Cram School. She jumped and turned around.

"Me? Why?" She wrinkled her nose.

"The clown bastard wants my booth inside the gates of the dance. I need a girl to join us and help. I'll trust you with the position." He stated, dropping a uniform into her arms. He then turned around and left.

Izumo stared after him in confusion.

§~•~§~•~§

"I mean, he's a total jerk. But he's never really let us down before either." Izumo sighed in frustration.

"But he also hasn't really done anything to be a particularly friendly guy either. Although I _will_ say he's kinda cute." Paku giggled, putting dangly earrings in. She had a date to the dance and would be going. Izumo had planned on staying in the dorm to study, but Rin asked her for help.

It didn't sound like asking for help at all, but he trusted her with this. That was a big step. That must have meant he trusted that she wouldn't let him down if he needed her.

Or maybe he just figured she was free and perfect for helping and just used some pretty words to convince her.

But if he really did trust her.....

She growled and went to get changed into the uniform.

§~•~§~•~§

Izumo hadn't showed up at the booth. Rin figured she wanted to study and not waste her time at this festival. He could understand that. He only had about three months left to prepare for his own personal Exam. Yes, it was unfair, but he'd gotten the short end of the stick in way too many aspects of life for it to bother him that much. ' _Guess I'll die, then._ ' He thought jokingly.

Godaiin said he could go on break, maybe dance with some girls. Rin looked around briefly before a hand grabbed his arm. Shiemi smiled up at him. "Oh good! You're on break too! Hey, would you like to dance with me?" She asked excitedly. He groaned internally, just wanting to be alone, but let her drag him into the mass of dancing students anyways.

As they made their way to a clear spot, a slow song came on. Shiemi didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck, leaving him no choice but to wrap his arms around her waist. They swayed slowly, like all the other couples. Shiemi sighed happily, a smile gracing her features. He rolled his eyes, but let her have her moment.

Yukio popped up at some point and they made eye contact. The younger looked like he wanted to laugh. Rin shot him a withering glare before Yukio walked away to make sure no one was grossly making out on the dancefloor.

"This is nice. I know you probably don't care....but thank you, Rin. I've always dreamed of dancing like this one day." Shiemi whispered. He only nodded in acknowledgement.

"I always saw these things in movies that I'd love to do one day. At least I can say I've done this one." She continued.

"That's called a bucket list, Shiemi." Rin deadpanned. She didn't let his monotonous statement ruin her mood, though.

The song finished and the more exciting music came back on. Right as Rin was about to go back to his booth, he heard something. It sounded far away, but it was slowly getting closer. He looked around, searching for the source. "Rin? What is it?" Shiemi asked, just as he found where the sound was coming from. A helicopter was hovering next to the top of a building not far from them. He frowned.

"Wonder what that's about." As soon as he said that, Shura's voice crackled over the comms they'd all put on before the festival started.

"Everyone to the location of that helicopter, now!" She ordered. As soon as he heard "helicopter," Rin was pushing his way through the crowd, pulling Shiemi behind him. She ran next to Rin, their joined hands forgotten. She somehow seemed in sync with him as they jumped up to the rail a platform above them and vaulted over. They ran together until they came to a ladder and had to climb. Rin picked Shiemi up by her waist and placed her on the fifth rung, giving her a headstart. They climbed hastily until they reached the top.

Shiemi gasped at the sight before them. Izumo was unconscious in Shima's arms. Shima was holding his staff, which had black flames coating the top. Helicopter blades were chopping harshly at the air, blowing their hair every which way. Shima was was carrying the purple haired girl to the vehicle.

Rin's eyes narrowed. It all made sense now. Of course Shima was a spy. He was good at hiding things with his natural personality because he'd always been lazy and laid-back in the first place. He could sneak around and gather information easily like that. But who did he work for?

Shiemi didn't seem to understand and ran forward to stop her classmate. Rin grabbed her arm and yanked her back. She began to protest, but Rin clamped a hand over her mouth and said in her ear, "I know. He's not who you think."

The blonde still looked confused, but nodded. Rin took his hand away and looked back at his classmates who were almost to the helicopter. No one else was there yet and Shima hadn't noticed them yet. The half-demon had two choices. Act now and shoot the helicopter and possibly kill their classmates or wait for the others and lose both Izumo and the spy, who also had answers.

He took aim and blasted blinding blue flames at the flying vehicle. It veered(away from the building, thankfully) and the rotors exploded. Shima had barely backed up in surprise when he and Izumo were blown back by the blast. Rin hadn't held back this time, so they might have a few burns, but that wasn't as important at the moment. He lunged and caught them both before they hit the ground, grunting at the effort.

The teen dragged his classmates back to a safer distance as parts of the copter continued exploding as it spiraled out of control. He vaguely thought he heard screaming and gave a satisfied smile. Whoever was in there was gonna suffer. Luckily enough for Rin, the copter went in the opposite direction of the students dancing in the distance.

Shiemi appeared next to him and took Izumo, laying her down on the cement. Rin dropped Shima's body like a sack of flour. Minor burns on his arms and cheek. Izumo had miraculously been shielded by said boy, so she was lucky enough to still be pretty and unharmed. While they looked over the Miko, a sharp pain shot up Rin's spine at the same time it shot through his stomach and he hunched over, coughing up blood. Shima had apparently not been as hurt as they thought he was.

He was standing behind Rin, a harsh grip on his tail and the end of his staff through Rin's middle. The son of Satan wasn't immobilized for long, though. He kicked a leg back, nailing Shima in the shin, enough for him to let go of the tail.

Rin spun around, delivering first a high roundhouse kick, then several punches in rapid succession, all to the most vulnerable parts. Shima was not one to scoff at, though. He was lean and quick.

He grabbed Rin by the shoulders and kneed him in the already healing wound in his stomach. Rin gritted his teeth, then spit blood directly into the traitor's face to distract him. The shorter teen backed the spy to the railing of the building, pinning him there.

By now, the others had arrived and Izumo was up and being examined by Yukio. That was good. What wasn't good was Rin getting his ass kicked just as much as Shima was. Shima must have had at least some training under belt in hand-to-hand, because it was hard for humans to keep up with Rin in that area. He growled, biting down on the arm choking him out. Shima yelled in pain, but didn't relent. Rin had no choice.

He reached up with all the remaining concentration he had. He placed one hand on Shima's head and the other on his chin. Once the spy realized what the half-demon was doing, Shima let go of him fast.

Rin was about to turn around and maybe push the teen over the railing when a blinding light seared his eyes. He backed up, unable to see. Heat burned the air around him and he was suddenly grabbed by someone. Not just grabbed, but a hand closed around his throat and lifted him off of the ground. The hand sizzled against his bare skin and he choked out a cry as steam rolled off of both his clothes and whatever skin was exposed. He struggled to breath and to get away from the burning, wanted to throw himself into a bathtub full of ice. He let out a scream as the skin on his cheeks and nose started burning off.

Finally, he managed to kick a leg out and hit whoever was the cause of his pain. Rin fell to the ground, groaning at the rough concrete against his injuries. As soon as he could feel the rough texture of the roof, he bolted, taking a running jump off the roof and sitting up against the wall in the shade. His eyes hurt. His throat hurt. His everything hurt.

Rin heard commotion up above, but didn't find out what it was until the next day. His eyes were still seeing back spots. His skin was stinging and it hurt to move. He was done for the day.

He took deep shuddering breaths as the burns healed at a painfully slow rate. Someone grabbed him and pulled him up, picking him up once they realized he couldn't see to walk. He could tell it was Suguro from the broad chest he was up against as he was carried bridal-style away from the Festival. Rin passed out before they even made it to the dorm.


	10. Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, my friend wanted me to make Rin wear heels and I have no shame because I want to see him in heels destroying gender norms too. Though, Rin only wears them because he's(canonically) shorter than the other guys besides Konekomeru. Enjoy!

Rin walked into class the next day with burns still on his face and arms. Yukio had to explain what happened after Rin left the scene the night before.

"So Izumo has some connection to the Illuminati, Lucifer declared war on the Order, and Shima's a traitor." Rin summed up. "He's not a traitor! We'll get both of them back safely!" Bon stood up, his chair screeching against the tile. Rin raised a brow. "Seems to me like he's a traitor. Didn't hesitate to try and kill me." Rin retorted, unbuttoning his shirt so Suguro could see the bloodied bandages over the gash in his stomach.

Suguro's glare lessened. "Shouldn't that be healed by now?" He mumbled, sitting back down. Rin gave a one shouldered shrug. "Might have something to do with the black flames on the end of his staff. My healing's slowed down. These burns should already be gone too."

"Yes, that is correct, Okumura. Shima is with the enemy and Kamiki has some significance in all of this. Her file tells us nothing because Mephisto has most of it redacted, though." Yukio answered the statement Rin had made earlier.

"So what are we going to do?" Shiemi spoke up. Rin looked at her.

"Is there something we're _supposed_ to do? We're only trainees. We have virtually no power aside from me. You and Suguro are defense and Suguro needs to be protected. Konekomeru is useless when it comes to physical activity. He's an Aria too, so that's two people I'd need to protect. On top of that, Shiemi, Nii isn't that strong yet, so his defenses don't last long." Rin pointed out.

"Hey!" Konekomeru cried, trembling. He didn't like the son of Satan, but he'd just been insulted!

"What? It's logic. There's no way we're going to rescue Izumo." Rin said.

§~•~§~•~§

"Congratulations, ExWires! You're going to Shimane to rescue Kamiki Izumo!" Mephisto cheered. Rin glared at the Time Lord for proving him wrong. They weren't even Exorcists yet, what the hell? He'd get the demon back later.

"Now, go pack your things and be at the airport in an hour?"

§~•~§~•~§

An hour later, Rin was ready and standing at the entrance to the airport, waiting for the rest of the class to show up. Yukio was miffed that Rin was the same height as him. And no, the half-demon didn't grow. He was wearing heeled combat boots. They weren't that high, but still high enough to look more feminine than masculine.

Suguro and Konekomeru showed up first. Suguro frowned at Rin for a minute before realizing he was put off because Rin was taller than he'd been an hour ago. "Oi, what the hell?" He muttered, backing up. "He's wearing heels." Konekomeru pointed out. Suguro looked down to see that it was true and blanched.

"You're a guy! Why are you wearing heels?!" He cried.

Rin shrugged. "I'm short and it gets annoying, gender roles be damned." He said dismissively.

"He once had to play a girl's part in our middle school play. Everyone was convinced he was a girl when he wore the costume. It took some training to walk in those heels. I still have the video, I think." Yukio grinned. Rin narrowed his eyes.

_Don't._

_I will._

_You'd better not._

_I'm going to show them sometime._

_I will poison your food._

_Jokes on you, I never eat at home anymore._

_Fuck you._

Rin looked away from his twin to end their silent argument just as Shiemi arrived.

"Waah! Rin, you're taller!" She gasped. Yukio snickered and they all shouldered their bags. "He's wearing heels." Bon sighed. He was more than done with the half-demon's nonchalant attitude about things that mattered to everyone around him.

§~•~§~•~§

"Fucking crowds." Rin growled, stepping away as a couple with their child passed.

"It's okay, Rin." Shiemi assured him with a giggle, patting his arm.

"We're still way too inexperienced." The teen shook his head.

"Well, we at least have Takara. He's apparently an Exorcist. What we need to do is find where Izumo could be." Yukio interrupted, looking at his map of the shrine.

They were currently in Shimane Prefecture at the Inari temple shrine. It was swarmed with tourists, something Rin couldn't stand. But he was having fun one-upping Suguro by being as tall as him. The wannabe punk was snapping at him every five minutes to "go back to your own height, damnit!"

Rin decided to take it a step farther. "Aw, c'mon, I look good in these." He draped his arms over the usually taller male's shoulders. Suguro still freaked out whenever Rin touched him. "Relax, I'm not gonna burn you." Rin chided them with a grin. Both Suguro and Konekomeru flinched.

_Ah._

"So that's it, huh?" He said.

"Excuse me?" Suguro said.

"I won't burn you. You'll be fine." Rin insisted. Konekomeru backed away, seeing what Rin was about to do, but Suguro stood his ground. Rin let some of his flames slip loose, covering his hands in ghostly blue. The taller boy flinched, but didn't back away. Rin walked towards him.

When Suguro finally moved away, Rin reached out and grabbed him quickly. He willed the flames to spread over his comrade. The boy freaked out, trying to get away, but Rin's grip was iron on his wrist.

It took him a minute to realize all he felt was warmth. It was actually almost cold....

Did the flames reflect Rin's emotions? Were they cold because Rin had none? It was sad to think about. This poor guy didn't know what it was like to feel joy or excitement. That meant he didn't know what it was like to really live either.

Suguro watched in fascination as the flames spread up his arm and into his hair. They danced and flickered in his hair. "I wonder if Karura approves of you as a host." Rin hummed. Suguro furrowed his brows in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He wondered.

"I'm royalty in Gehenna and to any demon that knows me. Technically, Karura is in my territory, as well as Iblis'. Do you think he'll get upset over you hating his Prince?" Rin reiterated. Suguro blanched.

"Wh-I don't hate you!" He claimed incredulously. Rin raised an eyebrow.

Suguro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't hate you." He repeated. "I just find it hard to be around someone who can't understand why people are the way they are or why they do things. Whether it's your fault or not, it's hard to be friends with someone who doesn't even know what emotions feel like."

Rin cocked his head to the side. "You're right." He decided. "It is hard to be friends with someone who doesn't feel." He mused.

"But it's also hard to be friends with someone who feels too much sometimes." His eyes met Suguro's russet colored ones again. There was an unexpected calm in hsi blue eyes that wasn't his normal calm. It was almost soft.

An understanding seemed to pass between them and they ran to catch up with the others.

§~•~§~•~§

After hearing Izumo's tragic backstory from the puppet of Mike, the group was more determined than ever to save her.

Even Rin. He had a respect for Kamiki that no one else quite understood. Kamiki liked to cut herself off from things to keep from caring, so she somewhat understood what it was like being so alone in the world.

They sat in the bushes scoping out the guards at the entrance. Mephisto told Yukio to make the decision -basically saying that if they failed, it would be Yukio's fault. He could see how unsure Yukio was about this.

Rin met his twin's gaze.

_Trust me._

Yukio made the decision to advance on their own. The guards were easily dispatched by the half-demon and his familiar, who had insisted on coming.

Kuro grew to full size while Rin walked out in front of the guards. "This is no place for students, go back home!" One yelled at him. Yukio walked out behind Rin.

"I'm the Captain. Follow my orders. Especially you, Rin." He murmured.

"I know, Captain Nerd!" Rin grinned menacingly, not taking his eyes off the guards as he unsheathed Kurikara.

" _Moeru_ _-Nami!_ " He slashed his sword twice and set two guards on fire while Kuro crushed some under his huge paws and Suguro swung at them with his bazooka. Within minutes, there was a pile of men off to the side.

Rin scoffed. "Easy victory."

"Anyway, what was that?" Suguro turned to the son of Satan.

" _Moeru_ _-Nami._ It's literally just _Burning Wave_ in kanji. I'm not very creative with names." Rin answered, sheathing the sword.

Yukio snorted. "Well, at least it's not something stupid like 'Satan Slash.'" He said. They walked inside.

"Well, it certainly is easy for you to remember...." Suguro grumbled. Rin narrowed his eyes. "Are you making fun of me?" He wondered. "Noooo.....you are _so_ trustworthy." The older teen teased. Before Rin could argue, Shiemi gasped.

The lobby of Inari Dream Town looked like a shopping mall.

"Do the people who got in that bus earlier really live here? For an enemy base, there's not even a soul." Suguro asked, looking around.

"No, there is. Something's here, don't lower your guard." Rin ordered, slipping his knife from the sleeve of his shirt.

"What, you feel something?" Shiemi looked around nervously. She tried to grab Rin's arm, but he grabbed her, turned her away, and placed Nee–who'd been on her head–on her shoulder. "Don't come running to me. Be ready to defend." He moved to his other comrades and classmates, moving them into a formation with their backs to the door, facing out at the mall with their weapons ready. "We'll move forward, but go slow. I don't trust this." He commanded.

"You don't trust _anything._ " Yukio said. Rin elbowed him in the side.

The half-demon glanced around the room and caught movement. He sent Kuro to sneak a look at it and report back. The cat looked shaken when he returned. "It's a monster, Rin!" He shivered.

"What the hell does that mean, cat?" He hissed.

"It looks like one of those things, oh, what do humans call them....the undead! And it has a collar with numbers on it." Kuro reiterated. Just as the cat stopped speaking, the thing turned towards them. Rin cursed quietly and sent a flaming knife through the thing's head. Blue fire silently consumed the monster. Before it stopped moving completely, it muttered "Hnnn....gryyyyy."

"That is a zombie. I thought it was a ghoul, but it talked just now. It's rare, but only zombies are capable, as long as the brain and vocal cords are unaffected by the necrosis." Yukio told them.

"What's the difference, just tell me how to kill it already." Rin huffed, another flaming knife already in his hand.

"We learned this in class, you idiot!" Suguro barked. "Zombies are much more difficult than Ghouls. Ghouls are slow and don't eat humans, just mild aggression towards everything. Zombies are also slow, but they eat humans and are very aggressive when hungry."

"You have to destroy the brain to take them down. Zombies are demons that parasitize the body of humans affected by necrosis." Konekomeru explained.

"So if you exorcised the demon, the hosts would be saved?!" Shiemi gasped.

Yukio shook his head in dismay at her naive hopefulness. "There isn't a single case where a body in a stage of necrosis this advanced ever regained their humanity. All we can do for them is put them to rest."

Rin walked over to the body, seeing a tag through the flames. He yanked it off, causing half of the now crispy corpse to crumble onto the floor. "Experiment Body No. 6411. What kind of experiments were they conducting? And that number rid frighteningly big." Rin muttered.

As soon as he finished talking, the half gone zombie lurched onto Rin, surprising the half-demon enough for him to nearly fall over. A bullet to the head from Yukio and the half corpse slumped against Rin. He pushed it off, walking back over to his class.

"Well, that was a half-baked attempt." He pointed out. Suguro groaned, meanwhile Konekomeru looked sick.

"Come on, that one was fire." Yukio snickered.

"Yuki, not you too...." Shiemi whined.

"Hey. Don't take away my claim to Flame." Rin said seriously.

"You must think you're hilarious." Suguro glared at the twins.

"I was hoping I'd at least get a good job. You brought this upon yourself when you didn't reward my efforts." Rin stated.

"You don't care about anything, why are you asking to be congratulated?" Yukio rolled his eyes.

"Because I'm trying to annoy you. Is it working?" The teen gave his twin a lazy grin. Yukio glared at him before turning towards the sound of bare feet shuffling on the tile floors.

Dozens of undead bodies advanced from all around them, leaving only the tunnel in front of them to escape through. The one they'd just killed got back up again and started dragging itself towards them.

"The hell is happening?!" Suguro cried, batting some away with his bazooka. Rin's sword was drawn again.

"Immortal zombies?" He offered, taking to slicing and dicing them so they were incapable of moving as a whole body.

"We need to find the underground entrance, now!" Yukio ordered, leading the group down the hallway.


	11. Target

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if I just made this exactly like what happens in the manga, I'd be a boring author wouldn't I? Have fun with this little twist, y'all.

Hey, if I just made this exactly like what happens in the manga, I'd be a boring author wouldn't I? Have fun with this little twist, y'all.

DEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONSDEMONS

"It's no good, they've surrounded this side too!" Suguro reported. "There are a lot of them."

"It's no good this way either. I can't set them on fire. That'll make it even worse." Rin added.

"We need to clear the way. I could clear it in one shot with my bazooka." Suguro offered. "No, we need to save ammo since it doesn't work on these zombies." Yukio countered.

"We'll have to cut 'em down. Burn 'em to ashes." Rin stepped forward, the flames on his body flickering excitedly as his tail whipped around impatiently.

"Well, get to cutting. You're the only one here that can." Yukio ordered.

"Of course." Rin ran in front of them and put his sword to good use, occasionally slicing with his knives, which he seemed to have lots of on that belt of his.

"Does that guy go anywhere _not_ prepared to cut something?" Konekomeru whispered, watching the half-demon obliterate the zombies. Rin danced around the corpses, cutting them all down and burning the bodies to the ground. The room was highlighted in blue.

And suddenly, they were all falling. The floor had turned into a funnel of sorts. Rin slid down on his feet like he was sliding down a muddy hill. Yukio slid on his side like he'd been trained. Everybody else slid on their asses. Shiemi somehow ended up upside down before they were plunged into darkness. Rin lit up the tunnel with his flames, but he was the only one he could see. He heard his classmates' screams get farther away.

He honestly should've been prepared for the landing, but it was pitch black and he was still disoriented. He landed on his side painfully, sure he cracked a few ribs on top of the burns and still-healing wound. He groaned, rolling over to face where he'd come from. It was pitch black, even with his flames lighting the area around him. It must have been a vast space. A growling noise could be heard.

"Don't tell me....." He turned around and blasted flames in the general direction of the noise. Horrible, gut wrenching shrieking sounded before an entire zombie _thing_ was lit and Rin could see both the cage it was in and the walls. It was a very tall room. No light could be seen from above or around them, save for the blue glow.

He studied the mutated zombie. It seemed to be more of a Nabarius, with body parts sticking out everywhere.

"Oh hell...." He muttered, just as he collapsed. Three tranquilizers stuck out of the back of his neck. One of the German twins–Gunnan–caught him and heaved him up into his arms while the other twin–Gunnar–shot at the chimera zombie to shut it up and they left the chamber, ignoring the shrieks of the pained groaning zombie.

§~•~§~•~§

"Huh. So we were separated when we fell through the floor." Suguro shined his flashlight around, noticing the wall closest to him. Just as he was going to examine the room further, a growl was heard, just like the first zombie they'd heard.

The lights suddenly turned on and he saw the giant Zombie chimera in the cage on the far side of the room. "So this is what happens to the worst defects huh?" He noted. The cage bars slid into the floor, releasing the thing. It tried to rush him, but it was too big and slow. Suguro smirked as he dodged easily and put some distance between the zombie abd himself. "Alright then."

He took a missile from his belt and loaded into his bazooka, positioning it on his shoulder and taking aim. It wasn't hard, the thing was huge. He couldn't find any particular weak spots except it's half-melted face.

"EAT MY BAZOOKA!" He bellowed, releasing a clear shot straight into the thing's face.

§~•~§~•~§

"We have acquired Rin Okumura. What of the other one, Dr. Gedouin?" The German twins reported to the piggy man with the unconscious half-demon.

"Ah, put him down on the table over here. The Commander said to leave the younger one be. Meanwhile, I will test this older one to see how his body works." Gedouin answered, shooing the twins away.

The short scientist took his eyes away from the cameras to examine the son of Satan. While unconscious, the teen looked perfectly calm.

He'd seen pictures of the boy–pale and perfect skin, no scars or imperfections to be seen, neutral expression giving away no emotion. He was quite the brawler and he was quick. He took advantage of everything in his surroundings when he fought, so he clearly had no qualms against fighting dirty. Rin's only goal was to win if he ever indulged in a fight.

Currently, though, he was still recovering from Lucifer's searing light when he'd gone to declare war on the Order, so there were patches of glossy pink skin all over his face and arms, not to mention the still healing stab wound from Shima's staff.

His ears were short and pointed, like Lucifer's. His hair was messy and overlong, ink-black locks around his head on the cold metal table like a halo of negative light. The doctor spotted the demon-slaying sword Kurikara sitting in the corner where one of the twins had left it. Oh how he'd love to break that blade and release the true demon inside this boy. It would be amazing! Glorious!

But alas, he had tests to begin for now. Keeping an eye on the cameras in each of the rooms the intruders were in, he took a scalpel and delicately cut thin lines in the half-demon boy's arms. Rin twitched, but with three full doses of tranquilizer specially made for demons, it would take a lot to wake him.

Gedouin made it his personal goal to see how much the boy would take before he woke up and started struggling.

§~•~§~•~§

"Alright we're all here! Let's go get Kamiki!" Yukio ordered. The rest started moving, except one. "Suguro? What's bothering you?" Yukio wondered.

"Okumura's missing." He grunted, refusing to move. "Oh! I never saw him escape one of those Chambers! What do you think happened to him? Do you think his monster got him?" Konekomeru realized.

Suguro shook his head. "No clue. But he is Satan's kid and this place is run by one of his brothers. Think they caught him?"

"That could be possible. But, Rin can handle himself. We came here to rescue Kamiki. We'll have to go one without him. If we can, we'll find him and take him back, but for now, we have no backup, so we gotta move." Yukio brushed it off, beginning to run again. Suguro didn't like it, but they had to stick together.

§~•~§~•~§

"He hasn't woken up yet?" Shima was watching Gedouin place cuts everywhere he could reach exposed skin while Rin lay passed out and strapped down on the cold metal table. His shirt was cut off and his bandages had been removed to reveal the stab wound from Shima's staff that was now only a deep gash. His burns were about healed, but Gedouin's little cuts littered the teen's upper body.

"Nope! Amazing isn't it! Had to shoot him three times to keep him like this." Gedouin said gleefully. He'd begun to cut deeper and deeper. The spy wondered when he'd hit bone. Shima cringed as the scalpel dug into the skin and maybe even into some muscle.

Rin may have been one of the Illuminati's targets, but the guy never really did anything to be on Shima's bad side. He was just a brutally honest dude who was a little twisted after having a messed up childhood and being neglected. It wasn't like his twin seemed to care about his brother's well being most of the time anyways. Who knew? Maybe Rin would join the Illuminati and be a Double Agent like Shima.

Shima stalked out of the watchtower and went back to see how the prep for the experiment was going.

§~•~§~•~§

Kamiki was screaming and writhing, fighting against the scientists dressing her in the ceremonial outfit. She didn't want to go through this. They'd said she wasn't compatible! This ritual was going to kill her!

Just as they finally got her pinned down, the ExWires ran in from a hallway. They didn't question anything, just ran in and began taking down scientists in some impressive hand-to-hand combat. Konekomeru couldn't fight much, so he didn't and instead ran around the adults, scrambling around to get to the computer. He looked at the stats and frowned. Some of it was in a different language, possibly French, and was therefore mostly gibberish to the boy.

He tapped a few keys, typing in commands in Japanese and hoping at least some would work.

They got lucky. The lights went off and the machines all shut down, including the device on Izumo's head.

The only noises were noises of surprise and Izumo's sobbing. Konekomeru could only hope his friends could adjust and beat the bad guys in the dark. Rin's fire would be very convenient right now.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin was up and he was screaming bloody murder as he struggled against the straps soaked in holy water and hexed to keep him there.

Gedouin was speaking quietly in his nasally voice, trying to calm the half- demon while the scientist cut deep into his arm, right in the crook of his elbow. Blood spilled from the wound as a vein was cut into.

Rin struggled. He yanked and pulled and arched off the metal table. All to no avail as he was cut over and over again, deeper each time. Rin had woken up to this and he'd just been in continuous pain ever since. He had no idea how long it had been.

Finally, Gedouin made a mistake.   
He looked at the long black tail that was strapped to the table in interest and inched towards it. Rin jerked, trying to get away from the psychotic scientist.

Memories flashed in his mind, pieces, broken pieces that couldn't tell him the whole story.

_A man–tall, lanky, and a too-wide smile. He didn't have an actual face–it looked like someone took a sharpie and drew a smiley face on a blank canvas of skin._

_His body was stretched too far, limbs too long, mouth filled with yellowed fangs like a shark._

_Long, crooked fingers grabbed at him and pulled him every which way, pulled his clothes off and water was splashed on him with a bucket._

_The water didn't feel like water–it burned and itched and crept into his skin and muscles and bones._

_His fingers melted away until just sizzling bones were left and he screamed. Screamed and cried for Daddy, Yukio, the clergymen, anyone._

_Burnt flesh smelled horrible and he threw up next to where he was forced to sleep on the cold, hard floor._

_More tall, crooked people, hurting him._

_Knives, sharp and shiny and stained with his blood._

_Cuts all over his body._

_Deep gashes from teeth on his shoulders and neck._

_Stinging, burning water._

_Dirty water to drink._

_Infected cuts and bright red vein_ s.

_More vomiting._

_No clothes, only cold._

_Tired, sad, alone._

_Sick, hurt,_ **_furious._ **

_Knives, sharp and shiny and stained with_ _**their** _ _blood._

_Nothing._

Gedouin held down the squirming tail and brought the scalpel down to put a shallow cut in the middle of the appendage.

Rin lost it. He screamed loud enough for the whole facility to hear, tears streamed down his cheeks at the sheer pain rippling through his body at that one little cut on the most sensitive place of his body.

Another cut, even deeper in his tail. He writhed, yanking even harder on the bonds. And this time, he refused to stop. More pieces of memories flooded his mind, too fast and incomprehensible to make any sense aside from how he'd felt then.

The last cut sliced cleanly through the fur and skin, even deeper. Rin broke through the hexes and his flames were free, melting the metal cuffs off of him. He jumped off the table and onto Gedouin. He set the scientist on fire, watching as he screamed and clutched at Rin's slit wrists.

Rin watched intently, a cruel–and maybe even a little insane–smile on his face as he watched the man's skin melt off his body, then his muscle and fat. Then, finally, all that was left were charred bones. This felt familiar–had he killed someone before? Had there been someone hurting him like this until he'd snapped? A little six-year-old boy with a knife surrounded by dead, mutilated bodies? Was that what happened to him back then?

He calmly dropped the burnt skeleton in his hands to the floor and beside the goop that had once been Michael Gedouin. He wondered if he should take the man's skull back with him as a souvenir, but decided that he'd rather not explain to Yukio why he was creepily clutching onto a charred human skull when he was already shaking like a leaf.

As soon as he went to leave with his sword, Saburota Todou stopped by and saw the damage done to the room. Blue flames licked the walls, slowly flickering out at their master's will. And then he saw what was left of the body and cringed.

"Ah, well, at least _I_ always come back." He sighed. He threw himself onto the son of Satan and they tumbled, wrestling for control.

Finally, they ended up with Todou on top, straddling Rin and holding his wrists down. Rin did his best not to let out a quiet whimper as his injured tail was held down by Todou's foot.

"Ah, yes. Such youth is wonderful, isn't it? I'm very sorry that man did this to you. Let me make it up to you." Todou leaned down and clamped his fangs around Rin's cartoid artery.

Rin let out a strangled yell. He struggled, but stopped when he felt a warm sensation throughout his body and most of his cuts closed up and the violent trembling stopped.

"What the hell are you doing, you creep?" He growled. Todou chuckled against his neck and leaned back up.

"Why, that's not very nice. I healed your cuts! The power of the Phoenix is amazing isn't it?" Todou explained breathlessly, licking the blood off his lips. Rin shuddered in disgust and threw the man off, making a run for it while the Demon Eater was surprised.

§~•~§~•~§

Since these guys were only scientists, it was easy to dispatch them. Shiemi used vines to bind all of them and the men and women were propped up against a wall. Shiemi stood guard while Yukio unhooked Izumo from the devices and Konekomeru hacked through the computer database to download all he could on to a hard drive he'd gotten from Yukio. The Exorcist had ordered him to get everything he could from the Illuminati onto it.

They still had no idea of Rin's whereabouts. It was worrying that the ExWire had been gone so long. Konekomeru really hoped he was okay. Despite what he'd thought of Rin before, the scream everyone had heard should never have to be heard, nor should it ever come from someone as steadfast as Rin.

Illuminati soldiers would be there soon and at that point, they'd have to make a hasty escape with or without their classmate.

§~•~§~•~§

One of Izumo's familiars from earlier was guiding Rin down the halls, but it would be a lot easier without the Demon Eater chasing him in hot pursuit.

Rin was slow since he hadn't eaten anything but Shiemi's grass sandwiches on the plane that morning and he'd been screaming his damn lungs out while being cut up by that freak, Gedouin. He was low on energy and he felt like shit. Probably looked the part, too.

Todou grabbed his cut up shirt and Rin let it fall off his body and kept running. Todou growled and finally just pounced, landing on top of the half-demon. Rin struggled, flames burning away at Todou, but the regenerative flames of the Phoenix kept him alive and unmelted.

"Come on, Rin Okumura. Stay a while and let me show you what we have in store. I promise we'll treat you much better than the Knights." Todou chuckled as he slipped a syringe out of a pack in his belt and pushed it into the teen's neck. Rin fought hard, but with that much demon sedative, there was no way he'd stay awake.

Rin's eyes began closing and his vision was fading to black.

§~•~§~•~§

"We can't stay here much longer. Koneko, how much info do you have?" Suguro turned to his friend.

"Uhhhh....I have a lot of files on their personnel, their targets, and some experiments on the elixr keeping Lucifer functioning." The shorter teen reported.

"That'll have to be good enough. Take the drive and let's get out of here." Yukio told him. Kamiki was in a better state now that she'd been given some water and the experiment hadn't begun.

"We still don't have Okumura....." Suguro grumbled. He seemed actually worried for their detached classmate.

"He can handle himself. If he finds us on our way out, good." Yukio waved it off once again.

"Okay, _listen._ If they took someone like Okumura, who has the DNA of _Satan_ –who basically has every demon's genetics in him, not to mention insane regenerative abilities, reflexes and senses–what do you think they'll want with Rin? And don't you think they'll do anything to get what they want?" Suguro pointed out. He really wasn't okay with this.

"What are you implying?" Yukio asked him impatiently.

"I'm _saying,_ they'll probably need to kill him to get what they need and even though the guy is kind of an asshole, even he doesn't deserve that. I know we're short on time, but Exorcists fight together right? So let's go get our teammate and leave." Suguro answered.

"That _would_ be ideal, wouldn't it?" A voice said from a hallway. They all whipped their heads around to see Shima casually standing there, in their way of escape.

Not good.

"What the hell do you want?! Just let us go and we'll be out of your hair." Kamiki cried. "No can do, Izumo~! See, I have to prove myself worthy of being in this organization. I can't do that if one of our most valuable assets escape, can I?" Shima tsked, getting his staff ready.

"He's already used up his summoning power today to destroy Mike and Uke. He'll have to take us on with just that staff and strength." Izumo told them.

Shima's smile faltered for a second before coming back again.

"I never said I couldn't summon Yamantaka more than once." He shrugged.

This was a predicament they found themselves in. Faced with a traitor who used to be their friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! We finally get a small look at what traumatized Little Rin and the reason he always carries a knife. He doesn't know it, but he carries knives at all times because they make him feel safe. He doesn't know how he'd react without his knives because he's literally never gone a day without them since the incident(that he can remember).


	12. Resistance

Rin's eyes began closing and his vision was fading to black.

He was losing his grip on consciousness, fast. Why was he here again? He was here to do something.

Something important. It was hard to think with his mind getting groggier and groggier. Foggy memories kept blinking in and out behind his eyelids and he wished they'd go away. He'd been fine until he remembered those little pieces.

He could feel the weight of Todou on top of him, holding him down. The man was trying to tug his sword away from him. Just as Rin closed his eyes, they snapped back open.

Blue tinted his vision and he blasted Todou straight in the face with blue flames. It somewhat destroyed his face and knocked the man off of him. He scrambled to his feet.

Izumo. He came here to retrieve Izumo. They all had. Rin, Yukio, Suguro, Konekomeru, Takara, and Shiemi. He didn't have time for naps.

**_ₙₒ ₙₐₚₛ fₒᵣ yₒᵤ, ₗᵢₜₜₗₑ ₒₙₑ!_ **

**_Yₒᵤ'ₗₗ ₘᵢₛₛ ₒᵤₜ ₒₙ ₜₕₑ fᵤₙ!_ **

The flames intensified as he became more aware of what was happening and pushed the static voice out of his head. The sedative burned out of his system. Rin could feel the intense, smoldering heat of his flames, scorching the walls and ceiling slowly.

He turned and ran down the hallway. The fox familiar was no longer guiding him, but he could sense the presence of Shiemi's Greenman, Nee.

It was just lucky that he ran into Shima at the end of the tunnel. _Literally_ ran into him. He jumped and placed a hard kick to the pinkette's back. Shima was lucky Rin didn't break his spine.

§~•~§~•~§

They were at a standstill until Rin came barreling in, kicking Shima across the room.

The teen was blazing blue. His shirt was gone and his pants were ripped in places, like someone had cut them with scissors in random parts. His tail was out, whipping behind him furiously and glowing blue. His eyes were bright blue and slit-pupiled. Flames surrounded him in a haze of heat. Overbearing heat that sizzled against the equipment in the lab and made it hard to breathe.

Looking past the majestic entrance, he looked like shit. Rin had dark bags under his eyes, he was covered in dried blood, his posture was slumped, and he looked more tired than a broke college student with insomnia. There was something rigid about him that made him look like a caged animal.

"Rin! You're okay!" Shiemi exclaimed, throwing herself onto the demon boy with no regard for the flames or the blood on him. Rin stood there for a minute, surveying all of them in their various states of shock, before hugging her back absentmindedly.

When she let go, his eyes zeroed in on Shima and just as the teen was getting up, groaning, Rin turned and grabbed the hand reaching for him from the hallway. Saburota Todou was thrown right into Shima like a ragdoll, who yelled and fell back down.

Rin grabbed Kamiki, pulled her behind him, and started running back down the hallway.

"They'll be trying to cut us off or separate us. Yukio, you watch left. Suguro, watch right. Shiemi, guard the back. Konekomeru, stay behind me with Kamiki and stay between us." Rin ordered, not taking notice of his brother sputtering over taking orders from someone ranked lower than him.

"There are most likely more zombies in the front, so be prepared." He warned. Keeping the flames going and running were obviously draining him, but he kept it up.

If people came up to him in the hallways to stop them, he burned them and kept going. Suguro and Yukio fended soldiers off from both sides. It was non-stop defence as they made their way out.

Just like Rin said, there were more zombies in the front of the whole facility, where they'd started. Rin growled and wreaked havoc on them. He swung and slashed with his sword, for once using the longer blade as opposed to his knives. He was pretty nimble with the katana, but still not as smooth as he was with his knives. He wasn't used to fighting longer-ranged combat.

Yukio shot the ambling corpses in the head to deter them as he tried to rush Kamiki out of the facility. Pretty soon, they all made it out except Rin. He'd been cornered at one point while holding off the mob. Now, they were slowly but surely overwhelming him.

"Go. Don't wait up. I got this." Rin told Suguro as he hesitated at the doors. The teen was reluctant, but he ran out the doors anyway. He trusted Rin.

Rin smiled and kept on fending off the zombies. He wouldn't go down without a fight.

§~•~§~•~§

"Is there anyone in there? Anyone that got trapped?" Backup from Kyoto had arrived. The ExWires and Yukio were still waiting for Rin. It was a slim chance he'd survived, but if anyone could survive that situation, it was Rin.

They couldn't see him through the clear glass doors anymore. There was too much blood and other bodily fluids covering them.

"Rin never came out. He got cornered, but that was two hours ago. We don't know if he's even still alive in there." Suguro answered before Yukio could.

"Alright. We'll try to take a peek to see if he's okay." Juzo's voice was doubtful, but he did it nonetheless.

Another hour of waiting while Kinzou and a few other guys went in.

Soon after the sun began to set, Blue Fire rose from the roof of the facility. Smoke was thick in the air.

Juzo came out, half carrying a beaten up Rin. The teen was covered in all kinds of nasty stuff from the zombies, but the most prominent thing was dark red blood splattering across his bare chest and torso. He was breathing heavily and bloody lines were slashed across his chest and others across his back. They looked suspiciously like claw marks. Bruises were blooming against the skin too. Even the fur on his tail was messed up. He looked like he'd pass out any second. Tiny blue flames flickered on his body, healing the most major wounds.

"Well, he's still alive." Juzo grinned at them. Yukio had noticed his brother's state and called the med team for a cot to lay him on, along with an I.V. for much needed fluids. Kinzou had came out carrying a pale woman with stark white hair wrapped in bandages.

"He was carrying her and fighting at the same time. Most badass thing I've ever seen!" The blonde cheered.

The woman turned out to be Izumo's mother and the purple haired girl cried and hugged the woman before she was driven away in an ambulance to be treated at the hospital.

Rin was out cold as soon as he laid down. Medics were cleaning all the dirt, blood, and other unsavory things off of his body to see the injuries clearly. When they finally got through it all, Rin still looked in pretty bad shape. His healing was once again still being hindered by something unknown. The medics made a simple report for Yukio to give to Mephisto when they got back regarding Rin's conditions and why he'd come back and been immediately taken to the infirmary for recovery.

Yukio only told the ExWires the injuries of their classmate so they'd stop badgering him about it and so Shiemi would stop blubbering about Rin dying.

– Fractured left wrist  
– Femoral and Exterior Iliac Arterial Bleed in left leg  
– Minor Avulsion on the abdomen and shoulders  
– Bite wounds on right arm  
– Blunt Trauma to the right temple  
– Chemical Burn on abdomen  
– Minor concussion  
– multiple lacerations on upper body

Yukio stared down at the list. What the hell had Rin been doing, dancing around the Illuminati base with the dead?!

"Okumura sensei, how bad is it?" Konekomeru asked politely but impatiently. Yukio realized he'd just been staring down at the paper for at least a few minutes.

"Ah, sorry. It's all in medical terms, so I don't think you'd understand it. I'll just tell you simply." He answered, shaking himself out of his shock.

"His left wrist is fractured, he has two damaged arteries in his left leg. Flesh has been torn away at the abdomen and shoulders. There are bite wounds in his right arm. He was apparently hit on the head hard enough to have a minor concussion, and somehow has acquired a chemical burn on his abdomen as well. The most minor thing is probably the cuts. He might need stitches if his healing won't take care of all these injuries." Yukio reported. The group was in various stages of horror.

Izumo choked out a sob. "He went through all that just to save my mother." She sobbed into her traditional robes. She got up suddenly. Shiemi tried to pull her back down, but Izumo stumbled over to Rin's cot.

"You idiot! Why would you go through all that just for someone you don't even like?!" She demanded. He slowly cracked an eye open and turned his head to look at her. "She was calling for you and asked me to help her get out when I found her. You shouldn't ignore your parents, Kamiki." He rasped.

She glared at him. He only closed his eye again and let put a huff of amused breath–laughing would hurt too much. When she didn't leave his side, he lifted a hand and patted her shoulder–the only form of comfort Rin offered.

"What the hell is even happening anymore?" Suguro muttered.

"He's never been like that towards any of _us!_ " Konekomeru noticed. Yukio nodded.

"I think he respects her. As a person and for sticking with her beliefs and not letting anyone stop her from doing what she wants. She's similar to him, in that way. That, and they have similar pasts in the case of parentage." Yukio explained his theory.

They walked up to say bye to Rin before getting on the train. "Come to see me off to Hell?" Rin asked hoarsely. "You're not going to die, you idiot! You saved my mother, but you don't even know her! Get to know her before you die, will you?!" Kamiki screeched angrily–the only way she ever showed concern. Rin only grunted non-committally.

"Seriously, you better come back. My mom wants you to visit next time I go back to Kyoto." Suguro told him, Konekomeru nodding in agreement behind him. Rin groaned.

"You–Four-Eyes–watch Shiemi. She'd walk off a cliff without even realizing it if someone doesn't keep an eye on her." Rin told his twin. Shiemi burst into tears and hugged the teen on the stretcher. The medics came to put him in the ambulance and Rin called after them. "Bye, I'll enjoy my time away from you!"

Suguro snorted and turned away. Typical Rin.


	13. Recovery

They later found out that the reason Rin was banged up so bad was because he had to deal with the Nine-Tails inside Tamamo.

Which was why they also heard about a containment breach and were now waiting outside the facility holding Rin inside it a week after Inari.

§~•~§~•~§

"Damn it!" Yukio reloaded his pistols as he dodged a man thrown at him.

Rin stood, snarling, in the middle of the ancient chamber. Fluffy white fox tails swished behind him, all nine of them. Ears protruded from his now white/blue hair. His claws were elongated and his eyes were completely black–the only color in them being the luminescent blue irises. He'd been tossing Exorcists around like ragdolls for an hour.

Once he'd woken up, still healing, and told the full story to the exorcist that came to question him, they'd locked him in this room. He didn't like that and neither did the Nine-Tails and soon after he'd stopped trying to break the doors off their hinges from inside the vault, Exorcists were sent in to subdue him while he was calm.

He was not, in fact, calm. He'd already transformed. He'd been _waiting_ for them.

By all means, the Nine-Tailed Fox should have only favored the Kamikis'. But because of Rin's short range of emotions and Demonic parentage, it would be easy for the Nine-Tailed Fox to posses him. Unfortunately, Yukio had the sneaking suspicion that Rin wasn't just letting the Demon use his body. He seemed conscious enough to do all of this to these Exorcists while mostly in his right mind. But, he was smart and was using this advantage to attack all the Exorcists who scorned him every day under the guise of being under control via the Kitsune in his body. Rin had always had wicked street-smarts. It must have felt good to let loose with the overwhelming power of both his flames and the Nine-Tails contained in his body.

Yukio had been called half an hour ago to come and get his brother under control. He hadn't yet tried to subdue his twin. Rin's range of emotions was mostly neutral, as few as they were. He had a lot of patience for bullshit, but even Rin got frustrated and needed to vent once in a while. He needed to get this out of his system before Yukio could try to calm him down. Besides, this seemed to be draining him. The more he threw around bodies with a wide fanged grin on his face, the more energy he used up by harnessing the power of the beast he'd let inside him.

But Yukio had to make it look like he was unable to get close so the Exorcists around him thought that Rin was just too powerful to handle and Yukio wouldn't get in trouble for basically watching them get tossed around while he strolled around leisurely. It was slightly amusing. All these Exorcists, older than him, higher ranked than him, who had arrogant, pompous attitudes, getting what they deserved. Rin may have been going about it a little wrong, but Justice was somewhat being served today in this chamber. The more time he spent observing his cruel brother, the fonder Yukio got of him somehow.

It seemed Rin had had enough of playing around. He had no extra energy left to give to the Nine-Tails. The ears, claws, and tails all receded back into his body and he stumbled around in his shredded clothing in the middle of the chamber before passing out on the spot. Yukio rushed forward to catch him before his head hit the hard floor. He held Rin up and walked to the doors. He banged on them and they were opened from the outside. The men outside sighed in relief. Mephisto was also on the other side, waiting. He grinned and snapped his gloved fingers. Amaimon, who was hidden by the Demon King's tall stature, came to take Rin from Yukio's arms. Yukio frowned and tugged Rin back. He didn't trust this.

"Come now, dear Yukio. I'm a very busy man and I must do something about this lest the Grigori get on me for letting it be. You can sit in on it if you'd like." Mephisto persuaded. Yukio narrowed his eyes at Amaimon and pulled his brother away. "I will accompany you." He decided.

The King of Time snapped his fingers once again, and that time, they reappeared in the Headmaster's office.

§~•~§~•~§

Suguro was pacing nonstop, biting his lip and thinking of what could have possibly happened to Rin.

"Bon, you're worrying too much. You'll give yourself a stress migraine." Konekomeru insisted.

"I'd say he's already got one from how long he's been doing that." A familiar voice said. They all turned to see Shima leaning casually in the doorway in his True Cross Academy uniform.

The next few minutes were a blur of the ExWires harassing the spy, including even Shiemi.

"So, Rin is in trouble I hear?" Shima asked once they were done assaulting him in the hallway.

"Not exactly. He's fine now." Yukio walked up to his students. "He might have even gotten lucky, given the circumstances." The headmaster appeared in front of them.

"I need you all to meet a very important member of the Arc Knights, now. It regards how trustworthy Shima Renzou is." And with that, they were all poofed to the office, where Rin was already sitting, nibbling on various snacks.

He looked completely drained. He could barely keep his eyes open and his skin was pale, maybe even feverish. "Rin!" Suguro surprised even himself as he ran forward to make sure the half-demon was okay.

It took Rin a second to register him, blinking in confusion once or twice before focusing on him again. "Oh. I guess I didn't get that much time away from you guys." Rin smiled at him and Suguro stumbled away from him.

"Wh-What the hell's wrong with him?!" He gasped. He'd known this guy for over half a year and not once has he seen Rin Okumura show emotion other than amusement at people's misfortune or menacing grins and cruel laughter.

"Ah, yes. He gets like that when he's tired sometimes. Rin is worn out and not exactly at 100%. The more tired he is, the more emotional he gets. It's almost like he goes back to being six." Yukio explained to them.

"That's creepy." Shima shivered.

"That's _normal_ for people like him. Just enjoy it while it lasts, he'll be back to normal soon." Yukio corrected.

In the state of exhaustion and half-delirium from sharing his mind with a feral demon for an extended amount of time, Rin was a childish mess. Mephisto was thoroughly disturbed throughout their conversation on when Rin would be ready to take his Exorcist Qualification Exam. He had to take it as soon as possible. His deal with the Grigori had to be upheld. Mephisto decided he'd help heal Rin and possibly give him a few tips on demon taming.

"So he's regressed back to a little kid? That's....strange, but interesting." Shiemi marveled.

"Hey! What did you do with the Nine-Tails? My mom isn't possessed anymore." Izumo marched up to Rin. He looked up at her owlishly. "It's mine now." He said seriously. Izumo's brow furrowed.

"What?! That should be–"

"Impossible?" Rin finished.

She nodded dumbly. "How could...is...is that _okay?_ Is that why he's like this?" She turned back to Yukio.

"He's strong enough for it. His spectrum of emotions is very short and mostly things that are neutral, so it was easy for him to take the Nine-Tails." Yukio answered.

"It is quite an interesting case, I must say!" A man stepped out of the shadows, grinning. He wore an explorer's hat, cargo pants, a button down shirt, and combat boots. And he stunk.

"Okumura Rin, eh? Oh man, I've been waiting to meet you since I heard about you! And that trial with the Grigori? Hysterical!" The man cheered, throwing an arm around the very confused half-demon. Rin wrinkled his nose, but didn't move. He didn't know if this man was a threat or not.

He felt a stinging pain in his arm and winced, launching himself over the table and away from the shady man. The guy held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, hey, it's okay! I just zapped ya so you'd be in the right state of mind for this. I'm Lewin Light, Arch Knight. I'm from the American Branch." He explained lightly.

"Light! He's an expert in chants and summoning ceremonies. He's called Lightning." Suguro whispered to his friends. Rin took note, but said nothing. He was more coherent now, but that still hurt.

"Still see me as an enemy, huh?" Lightning laughed.

"Anyone in the Order is an enemy. Especially the highest ranked." Rin told him, voice icy and eyes narrowed. Izumo stepped up.

"Why are you here? Something major must have happened fir you to be here." She asked. Lightning grinned wider.

"Ah, yes. Something _has_ happened, but it's classified, so I can't tell you. But we also need to discuss something very important. Can we trust the double spy Shima Renzou?" Lightning turned serious.

Shima gaped. "But I'm a spy for the Order too! You're turning on me?!" He squeaked.

"You were caught in a very bad situation, Mr. Shima. Abducting a classmate and bringing her to your other Boss for important research and experimentation should have been discreet. Instead, you were messy. Rin here caught you red handed. Which also brings up another serious charge–the attempted murder of a fellow student. You tried to kill Okumura when he fought you to rescue Kamiki here." Lightning listed off charges. Shima looked as if he was about to faint. He looked around at his friends, but no one would meet his eyes except Rin.

"We can't trust him." Rin said into the heavy silence. Everyone looked at him. "He thinks he can get away with spying for two major organizations who are at war without consequences just because he's working for both of them. You've given him the power to do whatever he wants, even under orders. Whoever offers the better deal is who he'll choose to side with eventually. If we give him sensitive information from our higher ups, but he gives us small things from the Illuminati in return, what good is he? He'll destroy us with just smooth-talking." Rin looked Shima dead in the eyes. The pinkette was trembling.

"I agree with Rin. Our organization here is trash compared to what the Illiminati has. He'll choose them and we'll lose if we give him any more important information. He can't be trusted." Izumo stepped up next to the half-demon. "I....I also side with Rin and Kamiki-san. Shima-san can't be trusted. I-I'm sorry." Shiemi said regretfully. It was obvious she was feeling guilty about it, but trust was hard to win.

"Ah! This is not going very well for you, Mr. Shima." Lightning commented cheerfully.

"But," Rin began again. "Don't kill him. As of now, I'm assuming that he has no more information to give them since he just got back. I say we cut him loose. Let him fend for himself within their ranks. He'll either die or rise."

The tension was so thick, Rin could cut it with his knives.

"That _would_ be beneficial. And it _is_ true that he has been only giving us tidbits of information while he worked more for them than us, given the mess that was Ms. Kamiki's absuction. But how do you know all this, Rin?" Mephisto admitted, looking at the teen with interest.

"I don't have to be a spy to sneak around. It's easy to overhear people. In case anyone decides to try and kill me, I'll know and stop 'em before they can even try." Rin shrugged.

"Wow. A paranoid one, aren't you?" The Time Lord muttered. "Not paranoia if people really hate you that much." Rin shot back. Mephisto held his hands up in surrender.

"We can cut him loose. I think he'd go for the Illuminati, but then he'd have to fight _me._ I'll be the Order's weapon soon. The strongest. Don't know anybody who's fought me who hasn't ended up in a hospital. But Shima's also wimp, so maybe he'll choose wisely." Rin added offhandedly.

Suguro looked at Rin incredulously. Was he bullying Shima into picking their side?!

But when he caught Rin's eyes, the boy seemed to be waiting. Waiting for what? Suguro thought about what Rin had just said and realized that there was more than two choices. Shima could pick the Order, the Illuminati, or he could pick neutrality. Shima could choose to go into hiding until the war was over or until he decided he was needed. Rin was giving Shima the choice without saying it out loud. Suguro wondered if Shima caught that as well.

"Well? Renzou Shima, anything to say? Answers, comments? Hopes and dreams?" Lightning said into the silence. Rin snickered. Shima glanced around the room, then at his own hands. He didn't know what to choose. He most likely didn't catch the hidden third choice. Rin rolled his eyes and leaned down to whisper in the boy's ear. Shima's eyes widened and he looked at Rin, surprised. Rin's smile didn't tell them what he'd said, but it showed that Rin found Shima's reaction amusing.

"I....I choose......"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand you'll find out next chapter! Yes I know, it's evil, but I gotta throw in a cliffhanger somewhere otherwise, what kind of author would I be? 😂
> 
> I act less like a hardass and more like five-year-old me when I'm tired enough to be incapacitated like that, so it happens.


	14. Choices

Shima was torn. What was he supposed to do? Spywork was fun. It kept him on the edge of his seat and it kept him alive. Working for both sides kept him _safe._

But the son of Satan standing over him wouldn't allow him to be on two teams. He had to choose one. If he chose the Illuminati, Rin would undoubtedly kill him. The teen was sharp and knew how to get around, so Shima had no doubt Rin would find him and kill him while no one else realized what was even going on, just to make it personal.

Or, he could join the trashy Order. But Rin would be fighting their battles. He was strong. Strong enough for Satan's flames and strong enough for the Nine-Tails. Rin was a cruel person, yet somehow a beacon of hope. Rin would keep them all safe.

' _The Order is weak, but I make them strong. The Illuminati is strong, but I'll make them weak. Mercy is bittersweet, but good for living._ '

Those are the words Rin had whispered. They were wise words and Shima wondered who'd told Rin that, because he didn't think the boy could come up with that on his own.

In other words, if Shima joined the Order, Rin would treat him like a comrade and he'd be safe with risk of dying in bloody battle one day. If Shima chose the Illuminati, Rin would hunt him down and kill him, and it would be a quick, heartless death. If he chose to run from both and be neutral, he would surely live, as long as he could stay hidden properly. But he'd never be happy again if he had to always be on the run, always looking over his shoulder.

_Geez._

"I....I....choose.....Rin." Shima decided. "Good choice." He could hear the smirk on Rin's face as he patted Shima in the shoulder.

There was no Order or Illuminati in this choice. He chose Rin, death, or neutrality.

"Wait, what?!" Suguro cried.

"I see. Very well. Renzou Shima will henceforth be studying to be an Exorcist in the Order of the Knights of True Cross under my jurisdiction. He will no longer have contact of any kind with the Illuminati." Mephisto announced.

"But hold on a minute!" Izumo put her hands in a time out sign. "What the hell does he mean?! This isn't some romance novel, this is real life!" She told them.

"Exactly, Ms. Kamiki. This is real life. I may be his legal guardian, but I have no control over Young Rin here. He's a wild card–I'm simply lucky he prefers my side. If you side with him, you live. If you side with the enemy, he'll come for you with no mercy. If you go neutral, you're safe, but not allowed to interfere in the war effort at all. Mr. Shima is smarter than I thought." Mephisto explained slowly, as if she were a toddler.

"Hmm. Very interesting! I like where things are headed here! I think I'll stick around to snoop a bit more." Lightning laughed. He walked over and threw an arm around Rin. "So how does that demon blade work?" He wondered. Rin glared at the man. He didn't like being touched and this man stank. Why were these creepy men after him all the time? First Todou, now this Lightning guy.

"It seals the main power reserves of my flames. I can still summon them without it though." Rin answered. "Cool! So do you have any specific abilities besides pyrokinesis? I heard something about the Nine-Tails earlier."

Lightning was like an obsessed fanboy. "It seems I can contain the fox. I took it from Tamamo." Rin revealed.

"Took it? As in stole it? Why?" Lightning wondered. Rin leveled the man with a deadpan.

"Because she was dying. What was the point of saving Izumo if she lost everything important to her? She'd lose her will to fight and she'd be dead weight. And the Nine-Tails gives me more power. Win-win." Rin said simply.

Izumo was bristling over where she was standing. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Yukio standing there. "Don't mistake his intentions. We had a man who raised us, but because Rin was so independent, he was neglected as a child. Dad never tried very hard to show Rin he cared. Rin grew up seeing things differently than everyone else. Now, he has people who care about him and worry about him. He doesn't fully understand that you care, so he uses logic to explain things he did when he himself might not know why he did them." Yukio had a regretful smile on his face. He'd been neglectful too. He'd thought Rin was a hopeless case. But he'd been proved wrong. Now, Rin had people to care for him and fight beside him, even if he didn't think he needed them.

Izumo only nodded in understanding.

§~•~§~•~§

While Rin was resting in his dorm room, Yukio and the others ate food. It was takeout they'd ordered since no one wanted to try their luck in the kitchen.

"Thank you all for taking care of my brother. Even you, Shima. It may have been self-preservation, but it still means something to me that you stayed to fight with him." Yukio thanked them. "Woah, teach, no need to get so sappy on us!" Shima laughed.

Yukio flushed. "Rin never got attention. Probably the worst case of child neglect there could be without abuse or malnourishment involved. If he wasn't so independent as a kid, he probably would've been a miserable child. Dad paid attention to me and trained me as we grew up. Rin stayed alone for a long time. It's honestly sad for me to realize that giving up on him and hating him for being how he is is not the way things should've gone. It's hard for him to feel anything emotion-wise, let alone understand them. We let him be alone and learn how the world works all by himself in a place that was always miserable. It's good that he has positive people surrounding him now." Yukio admitted.

"Oh, don't beat yourself up, Yuki! You're still a good brother! You take care of him _now._ Now is when he needs it the most, during all this fighting." Shiemi tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah, you may not have laid down a good foundation, or even a foundation at all, but depending in the materials we build him up with, he can still be strong." Konekomeru put in.

"What Koneko means is that if we're all here for him now, even after a terrible childhood, he can be strong. And not just power wise." Suguro chuckled at his friend's red face.

"I'm in it for his cooking." Shima said. They all laughed and the weight on Yukio's shoulders lifted some.

§~•~§~•~§

Upstairs, deep in his sleep, Rin had no idea people were trying to help him. Maybe he'd see their efforts one day.

Maybe not.

But for now, he had to deal with the nightmares filled with bits and pieces of that long lost memory, the one that started it all.

He always saw the same things and felt the same things until he woke up in cold sweat. He wished he could see more, but there a part of him that he kept deep down inside. The part of him that was terrified of those horrifying creatures coming for him in the darkness, waiting fur him to wake up.

It was irrational and completely out of character, but every time he stated too long into the darkness of the room, he'd pull his blankets over his head and wait until it was hit and stuffy under the covers to come back out abd try to fall back asleep again. He rarely succeeded.

Rin hoped he could remember what had happened. He'd never been curious about it until now, when he'd had a glimpse of the incident that changed his life. Now, those broken pieces of memories haunted him day and night.

Rin clenched his eyes shut again and rolled over, trying to fall back asleep.


	15. Bath House

As a gift from Mephisto for saving Izumo all on their own, the ExWires and Yukio got to take a trip to a bath house, along with Shura for supervision. Rin was sitting with Yukio and Konekomeru in one of the baths. He looked utterly peaceful. It was such a strange sight that Suguro kept sneaking little glances at him while he washed off before going into the baths.

Rin was short, but slim, like a dancer. One could almost say he was petite, if not for the solid muscle on his body under unmarked skin. Rin had no scars left over from injuries Suguro had seen him with and he finally looked like a living being instead of half-dead after the attack he'd suffered from Lucifer and whatever happened to him at the Laboratory in Shimane.

Rin's ink-black hair was longer–the longest locks reaching his chin–and his bangs fell into his eyes. His tail was the same color as his hair and was long and slender, resting curled up at the floor of the bath he was in. Suguro wasn't used to seeing it, since Rin usually hid it. And God damn, how did Rin have a waist that slim?

However, as soon as the thought that "Holy shit, Rin was pretty for a guy" popped up, Suguro thought about something else. He was a monk, he couldn't like the same gender. Not to mention Rin was the son of Satan and on top of that, an emotionless brick who probably didn't understand love at all. Or most other emotions, for that matter.

Besides, how the fuck did you tell an emotionally detached asshole that you wanted to kiss the drops of water off his neck and tuck his pretty hair behind his ear?

§~•~§~•~§

Izumo, on the other side of the wall, thought about Rin taking the Nine-Tails from her mother so Tamamo could live. It was endearing, even though it could also be thought of as tactical thinking. She wondered if they were also talking about the mission on the other side of the wall.

As soon as she imagined it and saw Rin naked in her mind, she shut it down. Now was not the time to get the hots for a guy who'd never notice you. Still, Rin was a good looking guy. It was unfair for all the girls that crushed on him in their year.

"Eh, thinking about cute boys, Kamiki? Or maybe even....cute girls?" Shura was grinning when Izumo opened her eyes. The woman gestured discreetly to Shiemi, who still had her eyes closed in enjoyment and relaxation.

Izumo's face burned and she shook her head. "No!"

Back over with the boys, Suguro had finally joined them in the bath. Shima and Takara were the only ones not with them. Shima was, for some reason, staring at the wall that separated them from the girls and Takara was off being an asshole in a different bath.

"Is it okay for you to be in there?" Rin asked the puppet.

"What, are you saying I can't enjoy the hot water?" The rabbit snapped.

"No, I was trying to see if drowning you was an option." Rin said, smiling sickly-sweet. They thought he was being serious, but Suguro realized Rin was just being petty and snickered.

"Would that wake your master up, you bastard?" Rin kept pushing.

"I _will_ fight you, demon boy!" The puppet snarled. Rin flipped him off.

"Oh fuck you!"

Rin shook his head. "No thanks." He was not expecting that thing to actually be funny. He really did wonder what was up with the sleeping host body, though.

"Oi, Shima. You gonna join us or are you still mad at me for taking your dream job away?" Rin called. Shima glared at him.

"Don't call out to me, I'm upset." He grumped.

"Dude, chill out. If you regret the decision so much, he can just drown you right now if you'd like." Suguro joked.

"Don't tell me to chill out! I'm the only honest one here! Even Okumura isn't honest when it comes to this!" Shima cried. Konekomeru furrowed his brows.

"I feel like we missed something." He stated.

Yukio nodded. "I don't think he's talking about his choice." He agreed.

"On the other side of this wall, are three beautiful girls! And you all are sitting there like idiots! Stop lying to yourselves and admit you wanna see!" Shima yelled.

Yukio burst out into unexpected laughter. Konekomeru's face was beet red and he sink to his nose in the water. Suguro looked annoyed and Rin just sat there with the same neutral expression, as always.

"What are you laughing at, Teach?! Don't you wanna see Shiemi?" Shima crossed his arms. Yukio straightened up.

"Not really, no. That'd be awkward. She's too naive to date and I'm not interested." The teen shrugged.

"I just wanna pass the exam comin' up." Suguro said. Konekomeru nodded in agreement. Rin stayed silent.

"What about you, Rin? Don't you wanna see?" Shima urged.

Rin shook his head. "Well what _do_ you want?" Shima asked, confused.

Rin thought for a moment, then answered. "I want this fox bitch to stop screaming in my head." He decided, getting a snicker from Suguro.

"Has anyone else noticed those or should I sit here and wait for you to see them?" Rin added, looking up at the top of the wall.

"Those are Wise Monkeys!" Konekomeru gasped.

"Does anyone see those?!" Shura shouted over the wall.

"Yeah, we see 'em!" Suguro answered, getting up. He chanted a holy verse quickly and the monkeys poofed into thin air. In the excitement, Rin got out of the tub and pulled Shima out of his own so he wouldn't drown. He'd passed out when the monkeys disappeared.

Rin laid him delicately on the tile and grabbed a towel to cover his proof of manhood, then got back into the bath with the other guys. They were staring at him strangely. "What?" he tilted his head to the side.

"Brother....I've never seen you be so gentle." Yukio said quietly.

"Humans are fragile." Rin looked at the water to avoid the gazes, but Suguro could swear Rin's cheeks tinted pink just a bit.

It was quiet for a moment before Konekomeru broke the silence. "But to go off of Shima's question, Okumura, do you actually like anybody in this class?" He questioned.

"Not the way you're asking. I don't really care about those things. The person I'm closest to would be Suguro though." Rin responded. Said teen sputtered. "Why me?!"

"Because you amuse him more than most. Good job Suguro." Yukio clapped a hand on his shoulder, trying not to laugh. He wasn't surprised that Rin liked Suguro more than his own brother. Yukio had spent most of his life pissing Rin off.

Besides, Yukio thought it would be interesting to see what kind of pair a Detached, but still learning Rin and a Headstrong Suguro would make. Shiro may have been acting as a priest, but he'd never exactly instilled the Lord's Word unto them, so Rin liking the same gender wasn't really a problem morally.

"Hey boys~!" They all looked up to see Shura at the top of the wall. If they listened, they could hear Shiemi and Izumo fussing and telling her to get down. Rin smirked.

"Get down, you big-breasted bitch!" He called. Shura laughed and went back to her own side. The other boys were freaking out. Yukio looked embarrassed, Suguro looked disappointed in humanity, and Konekomeru looked like he wanted to die. Rin laughed.

"Oi, don't laugh at us just cuz you don't have to feel the things we do, asshole!" Suguro barked. That only made Rin laugh harder.

"Stop being so stupid over something so simple. She was a hundred feet up, easy. You really think she saw anything?" Rin rolled his eyes.

"Or are you hiding something big enough for her to see from there, Suguro?" Rin moved in front of Suguro to lean close enough for their chests to touch, smirking up at the older teen. Suguro was taller than Rin, but somehow, he felt like Rin was towering over him.

"Someone please drown me." Suguro groaned, cheeks flushed scarlet. Rin moved away and gave Suguro his space back. Yukio was laughing and Konekomeru was trying not to laugh at his friend's expense, but he'd never seen Bon so flustered in his life. Of course Rin would take a liking to him. He had great reactions to just about anything.

"It's okay, I'll keep your secret." Rin winked, dragging it on just to torture the boy. Suguro hid his burning face in his hands.

§~•~§~•~§

"Hey, Rin?" Suguro asked later, when they were about to separate on the oath to their respective dorms.

"Yeah?" Rin answered.

"Do you really like me the most?" For some reason, Suguro couldn't stop thinking about it.

Rin slowed down and then he was right next to Suguro.

"You're my favorite." He murmured directly into the taller teen's ear. As expected, it made the boy go red again. Rin grinned widely, fangs and all.

"Don't get too full of yourself, Shima's caught my interest, too." He said offhandedly, walking off on a different path with his brother to their own dorm.

Suguro steamed by himself on the way to his own dorm, walking behind his two childhood friends.


	16. Examination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no way Rin's exam WOULDN'T be rigged, am I right?

"He has to go _now?!_ " Suguro gasped. Rin had just been taken by an Exorcist to take his Qualification Exam.

"Yes. He made a deal and he has to honor it. If he passes, then he will be an Exorcist. I don't know what rank or even if they'll allow him the rank he deserves. But if he fails, he gets executed." Yukio explained. There was obviously no point in teaching a lesson today. All of the students would be anxious over Rin, so they wouldn't be able to concentrate.

"Do you guys really think of him as a friend?" Yukio wondered.

"I mean....yeah. He's kept us alive until now. Watched our backs. Even if it is just because we're amusing to him." Suguro answered.

"The plus side is also that we know what he can do. He has pretty much no personality except 'kind of an ass' but as long as none of us betray him, we live. So we know what we're getting into, right?" Izumo spoke up.

"Rin might not know it, but he needs people to run to. People he can trust other than himself. So we'll be here. And if I have to, I'll break him out before they execute him!" Shiemi piped up, determined. Yukio smiled.

Rin didn't even have to try and somehow, these people still thought of him as a friend. Yukio wished he could've been a better brother when they were younger. Things might've been better. Or maybe they would be worse, but one could never tell.

"Thank you. I was not there for him when we were younger. He didn't necessarily need it, but it helps to have a partner in crime, I suppose. I'm grateful to you all for caring about him." Yukio told them.

"Now, shall we go? There's a waiting room outside the place they hold the examinations. We can swing by your dorms and get something to entertain us." Yukio suggested. The students cheered and they all packed up their things and left.

§~•~§~•~§

"No, Shima, we're not playing Strip Poker. This is a waiting room, not the Okumuras' Dorm. And you're supposed to be a Monk, dammit!" Suguro growled when they finished their third game of Go Fish.

"I brought Clue!" Shiemi opened the box and set out the board.

§~•~§~•~§

An hour later and they were really into Clue. Even Yukio was playing.

"Alright, let's see....Colonel Mustard, with the pipe, in the Study. Can anybody disprove that?" Yukio asked. Suguro shook his head. After him, Shima. Konekomeru nodded and everyone looked away as he leaned over to show Yukio the card. The young teacher nodded and checked off Colonel Mustard on his list.

Suguro rolled the die and cursed when he only got a three. "You can just use the secret passage." Shiemi pointed out helpfully. Suguro used the passage and just as he was about to make an accusation, the huge double doors blasted open and a body came flying into the room, landing on their board and throwing the pieces and cards everywhere.

"The next time you try to rig an examination, make sure it's not _me_ you're examining, Rico!" Rin's voice called from the room.

"Hiroki, I see you over there, quit it!" A man's voice screamed in response. "Oh don't gimme that shit, I know it was you who threw that knife!" The sound of two heavy hits and a body hitting the floor echoed from inside the room and everyone in the waiting room winced.

Rin finally appeared in the doorway. "All of you waited for me? I thought you'd be in class." The half-demon admitted.

Yukio smiled sheepishly. "They wouldn't have been able to concentrate on their work, so I brought them here to wait for you." He said, looking over his twin.

Rin's clothes were ripped and torn in places, along with several bloodstains that probably weren't his. Soot dirtied his face, so there may have been explosions involved during the exam. He was breathing hard,but he looked pretty damn proud of himself.

"Were they worrying that much?" Rin wondered. His twin nodded.

"Rin! Are you okay?!" Shiemi, like normal, threw herself on him and looked for wounds. She found several, but none too bad. "This one might need stitches! You need to clean these before they get infected!" She reported to him. He grinned and patted her on the head in assurance. "I'll be fine, Flower Girl." He brushed it off. She clung onto him, hugging him tightly.

"Do....do you think you passed?" She wondered quietly. Izumo walked up and patted Rin on the shoulder.

"I better have passed for all the shit I just took care of." He growled. As if on cue, a groan sounded from deep inside the room.

"Shut it Shinji, you're fine, I barely touched you." Rin called behind him.

"You broke my arm, you bastard!" A response was shouted and Rin snickered.

"Shinji, if I come back in there, I can guarantee that you won't come out." Rin threatened with a grin.

A yelp was heard and then silence once again.

"No fair, why does Rin get all the girls? He's a jerk!" Shima whined.

"Well if ya come over here, I'll have you too. Don't know if that counts for anything in your book, but I already basically own you, so....." The teen shrugged. Shima thought a moment before sighing and going over to the half demon and hugging the side Shiemi wasn't on.

"Rin, this is the 2000's, you can't own people anymore." Yukio told him. "He chose me, it's not my fault you're jealous you don't have your own side in a war between Exorcists, A cult, and the Antichrist." Rin shrugged. Yukio sighed and gave up. Shima was on his own now.

"Fuck you, I'm also on your side!" Izumo snapped.

"Same here." Suguro added.

"I have to protect Bon, so I must also join." Konekomeru said.

"Sweet. More meat shields." He commented. Izumo slapped his arm and he chuckled.

"Just kidding. You're more useful to me as a team. As long as we can work out good strategies we'll sucker-punch those bastards in the gut no problem." Rin admitted.

"That sounds awesome." Shiemi smiled up at the half-demon. Rin rolled his eyes.

"It's just tactics." He grumbled, looking away.

Yukio gaped at his twin.

Never in his life had Rin acted like that. He'd never grumbled or looked away, as if he was embarrassed by the girl's positive reaction. But then again, he used to ignore Shiemi because she annoyed him. In Shimane after the Illuminati Base, he'd told Yukio to keep an eye on her. And he loved messing with Suguro for his entertaining reactions, but he'd never actually tried to receive attention from anyone but Suguro. And the only person to ever earn his respect was Izumo.

All this happened slowly over these last months. Rin had almost known his classmates a full year. This was proof that maybe he just needed someone to actually try to get through to him. Maybe he wasn't hopeless. Maybe when he'd shut himself down as a kid after the Incident, they should've given him attention and love and he might have been able to be a somewhat normal kid.

Yukio smiled and walked at the back of the group, laughing at their antics when Shima and Shiemi were holding onto Rin's arms the old fashioned way, like they we're walking into a fancy Gala or something.

"The hell are you guys doing?! We're in a highschool, not the 50's American Casinos in L.A.!" Suguro told them. He seemed content with getting attention from Rin as well now that he knew he was Rin's favorite.

Yukio chuckled. What was it with people and wanting his brother's attention so much? Yeah, their fangirls and fanboys at school were normal because Yukio and his twin were both hot. But these people especially seemed to crave his attention. Maybe it was because he was strong and unlike anyone else in this school. Or the world for that matter. There was no one who could ever come close to being like Rin on this planet.

Yukio promised himself he'd try harder to be a good brother. He'd always told himself he was looking out for Rin–that he was protecting Rin–when really, he resented Rin for being able to do everything on his own with no help at all while Yukio had always needed help from Shiro or the clergymen.

Shura had once told him his bitterness would leave him open for possession one day.

No more bitterness. No more jealousy. He killed demons, he didn't welcome them. He needed to get his act together.

Besides, even if he wanted to do something crazy like joining the Illuminati, Rin would hunt him down and kill him with no hesitation. Rin understood how to control the tides of war. Either neutralize or kill off the threats.

Yukio believed Rin could win.

§~•~§~•~§

"He passed?!" Angel roared. He was positively furious. Mephisto was shaking with laughter at the Paladin's expense while the Arc Knights all assesed the information in front of them.

"These results are outstanding." Lucy Yang, Head of China Branch, admitted.

"I agree. I've never seen a single Exorcist, not his brother and not even the late Paladin, get perfect scores. He is a bright one." Osceola Redarm, Head of Mexico Branch, agreed.

"You don't have to be a genius to pass the test, per se. It's all about not overthinking things. Instead of giving complete answers like his twin, he gave the simplest ways to solve the problems with as little reprocussions as possible. It's kinda like being lazy if I'm being honest." Lewin Light, Arc Knight from American Branch, grinned.

"I approve. He will be a worthy weapon for us." Shemihaza said.

"He got Knight and Tamer on the first try?" Drac, Romanian Arc Knight, asked. "Well, it was his only try. I'd wanna make sure I got a good position in the place that's gonna be using me as a living weapon too." Lightning defended the teenager.

"He wanted to show us up! I'm telling you all, we should kill him while we have the chance! He'll hurt us more than help us!" Angel was still raging. Mephisto grinned to himself.

None of these fools even realized that they had absolutely no control over Rin. Rin chose to do this solely for entertainment–like a true Demon Prince. Mephisto had never really understood pride in one's kin until now. Rin would be everyone's downfall if he so chose it and Mephisto would be there for it.

"No, Angel. He passed fair and square. Even after you rigged it." Lucy denied him. Angel's face turned red like a cherry and he huffed, sitting down in his seat. He'd been caught. Of course, the counsel had known he'd rigged it and wanted to see if Rin passed even after the sabotage. Or if he caught onto the sabotage at all. And he'd done both.

"So, what shall his rank be? We are doing this fairly, I assume?" Mephisto gave everyone around the table a pleasant grin.


	17. Intermission

Rin received his rank and got his own little ceremony where he was titled Upper Second Class Knight and Tamer, the official Weapon of the Order. The Cram School held a small party for him afterwards. Rin was given a uniform and badge along with an Exorcist I.D. All of the Arc Knights bid him good luck as the Order's Weapon.

§~•~§~•~§

Over the course of the next few days, Suguro had managed to earn Lightning's approval to be his apprentice.

Lightning also asked Suguro to bring Rin along with him sometimes to ask him questions about being a half demon and having the Nine-Tails in his head as a sort of alternate form.

"She just screams 24/7. I hate her." Rin looked more dead inside than usual and Suguro thought it was hilarious.

"That's gotta suck." Lightning agreed. "So I hear Ryuji here is your favorite person. Even above your own brother?" Lightning wondered. Rin nodded.

"He's amusing." He answered. Lightning grinned. "As a sociopath with a similar mentality to yours–I get that."

Suguro looked nervously between them. They both turned to him with nearly identical predatorial grins and he backed up.

"Wait, what are you two doing?" He questioned cautiously. Without answering, they both pinned him to the wall and proceeded to mess with his morals as a Buddhist.

§~•~§~•~§

"Aren't they both underage?" Yukio pointed out to Shura while she told him the information she'd acquired on Rin. They were keeping him under watch for now, just in case the Nine-Tails acted up.

"Not only that, poor Suguro got some action from two hot guys and he's only a First Year!" She huffed. Yukio snickered.

"What, are you jealous? Your skimpy outfits aren't helping you anymore?" He smirked.

"Hey! I always get attention from the kids when I walk by! Now, no one in the ExWires cares!" She complained.

"What exactly did those two do to Suguro anyways?" Yukio wondered, somewhat curious. "Oh, I'm pretty sure Rin stole his first kiss and Lightning stole his second and after that, it was pretty much just Rin marking him up while Lightning asked him questions and took notes on his answers. Suguro was putty in their hands. Poor guy's never gonna be free from those two nutjobs now." The woman chuckled. Yukio made a face at the crude explanation.

"Huh. Didn't think Rin would take it that far." He mused. "He would if he had someone to double team his favorite person with, apparently." Shura snorted.

"That's unexpected, but also not. It was only a matter of time." Yukio sighed.

Rin was too much like Mephisto in the way he liked to play with people in his games. He'd once conned a guy out of 50,000¥.

Shiro had been so proud, he didn't even reprimand Rin for it, just bought him high quality food to cook with the money.

§~•~§~•~§

"I heard you traumatized Suguro-kun." Shiemi giggled the next day. She and Rin were on a mission together.

"He'll be fine." Rin brushed it off. "Didn't you steal his first kiss?" Shiemi asked.

"Huh, word gets around quick." Rin noted. "Yeah, but that was it. Gave him a few marks. Had him mumbling nonsense in no time. Probably corrupted his morals a bit." Rin told her.

"Why'd you do that?" She wondered, but before he could answer, an Exorcist came up to them and handed them Holy Water dispensers.

"Coaltars have infested a house. The client is crazy about old houses, so don't damage it." The man told them.

"Old houses? It's not even a house at this point. This is a wreck." Rin pointed out. "It seems like the Coaltar Lord Koks isn't here, but if you run into him, come get me." The man walked off to talk with another Exorcist.

"Rin, are you alright with Holy Water?" Shiemi fretted, frowning.

"I'm fine. It's just a spray and my regeneration will take care of it later." Rin answered.

"Later? I thought it was immediate?" Shiemi said.

"No. The smaller the injury, the longer it takes to–oh fuck!" The floor collapsed beneath them and they freefell. Rin landed in a pile of shards and felt something jagged stab his leg. He gritted his teeth and looked down at the shard of wood in his leg. Correction, _through_ his leg.

Wonderful.

§~•~§~•~§

Hours later and Rin could easily walk around the dorm kitchen with only a slight limp, throwing ingredients into bowls and mixing them together while something that smelled delicious cooked on the stove.

"So you live here with your brother because the Order is paranoid about you losing it?" Godaiin summed up.

"Yes. Although, it does give me enough privacy to do whatever I want since Yukio isn't home very often." Rin confirmed. Godaiin, like the Cram School group, had decided he liked Rin and hung out with him when he could. Rin didn't understand why people suddenly flocked to him even when he seemed so cruel to them.

"And your brother doesn't try to stop you from doing what you want?" Godaiin wondered.

"I'm physically stronger and faster than him. He _can't_ stop me." Rin answered. Godaiin imagined Rin would have a smug smile on if he really cared about that fact.

"Your parents are fine with you being around a broke low-life from the Tokyo slums?" Rin changed the subject.

"They think I'm doing it to look good, but I don't care as long as I'm allowed to hang with you." The teen said honestly. Rin hummed. He turned off the burners and left the food to cool.

The half-demon walked over and got uncomfortably close to the human. Godaiin didn't even flinch. Rin got closer to where their noses were almost touching. Still no negative reaction. Rin let a smile slip onto his face. "You don't joke around."

"Nope. I wanna be your friend. I'm not scared of you." Godaiin agreed. Something tugged at Rin's chest. He didn't understand the feeling, but he didn't hate it. "And if I decide to just stay here and stare you down?" Rin decided to push even more. "I hope you like staring at mud-brown eyes." Godaiin told him. Rin smiled wider and Godaiin saw it reach his eyes.

That.

That was actual happiness.

Did Rin even realize he was feeling something? Godaiin didn't say anything about it as Rin went to plate the food. Let the half-demon realize it on his own that it just took a little care and positive reinforcement.

A knife was suddenly not even an inch from the space between his eyes. Godaiin was too surprised to move. He did his best to not let it show in his eyes that he almost screamed.

A chuckle. "It's okay. Anyone would scream if a knife came at them like that." Rin assured him.

"Would you?" Godaiin challenged. Rin thought for a moment before a smile graced his face once again. "No. I wouldn't."

They sat down and ate dinner peacefully. Rin helped Godaiin study for a test in one of the classes they had together and then Rin walked Godaiin back to the Boys' Dorms. He did this as an inside joke between them since Godaiin was always creeped out by the demons that crept around the school.

Go figure he was afraid of a baby goblin or coaltars, but didn't even flinch at Rin threatening him.

Soon, Rin would find himself enjoying Godaiin's company. But first, he'd be thrown into Shura's past and Yukio's feelings.


	18. Aomori

Having an old lady assume Rin was dating his brother was.... uncomfortable. The thought was just _disturbing._ Even if they _weren't_ related, Rin wouldn't ever consider dating Yukio. For one, he lacked the feelings for it. For another thing, Yukio's personality was not very compatible with Rin's in a relationship like that.

Yukio was serious, precise, and picky. If he actually had any fun like he used to as a kid, he'd be annoying. Yukio was starting to open up more to the Cram School crew. Rin had a feeling he'd start getting more annoying soon.

Rin liked to mess with people, didn't understand feelings, and would do, say, or eat anything. His taste buds worked, but if he needed something in his stomach and there was nothing else to eat, he'd just eat it. Yukio loved sea food while Rin hated it. He liked Western food or regular Japanese dishes more. Godaiin had started buying him lunches or sharing whatever he got with Rin, so the teen had a chance to eat rich people food. It was heavy, but delicious. If Rin was going to be in a relationship with anyone, it was between Suguro and Godaiin.

This old lady needed to stop. It was weird and disturbing. Rin was two seconds from ripping down her paper walls and strangling her, but Yukio pulled the beds away from each other and put his bag on his side of the room. He knew Rin couldn't deal with certain things.

"Do you....mind having friends?" Yukio wondered when the lights were off and they laid in their beds silently. Neither of them could sleep.

"I don't mind people being around me as long as they don't bother me." Rin answered. Yukio sighed. "You do realize they think of you as a friend right? Even that Godaiin guy." Yukio told him. "I know Godaiin thinks of me as a friend. I assumed the others did too. I don't mind them. It's nice being surrounded by people for once." Rin's voice had softened, but the teen didn't notice it.

Yukio smiled. "I'm sorry. Me and Dad weren't that good to you." He apologized.

"I was independent. I never asked for you to be good to me. Food, shelter, and clothing we're all I needed. I found ways to entertain myself." Rin said. "Besides, Satan killed Shiro because he wanted me. Fair trade, though it's a pretty bad way to go out."

Yukio snorted. "If you look at it a certain way, it was a badass way to go out. I don't think he regrets it."

Rin closed his eyes, remembering how the old priest had stabbed himself and told Satan that Rin was his son. A small warmth had bloomed in his chest when Shiro's last words to him were an apology for not being a good father. At the funeral, there'd been a prick of heat behind his eyes. Rin didn't understand what any of that meant, but a part of him felt emptiness after Shiro died.

"I never hated you guys for it. Shiro had a hard time being a father. He was made to be a soldier, not a parent. Me being easy helped him to raise you better than if I had an actual personality." Rin admitted.

"I wonder if you'll ever feel the same way I do one day." Yukio said. "There are cases where people who are emotionally detached have learned how to let themselves feel things again. Sometimes it takes a long time." The teen explained it carefully.

Rin considered the information. "So it's possible to recover even after as long as it's been?" He wondered.

"Yes! Exactly! It's hard for you to connect with people because you've been shut down for so long. Maybe these friends can teach you how to care." Yukio exclaimed, excited that Rin was following his train of thought perfectly.

"Godaiin is a nice change from the others." Rin said after a minute of silence.

"Yeah? How so?" Yukio liked having an actual conversation with his older brother. This was the longest conversation they'd ever had. It was sad, but true. He'd been bitter towards Rin for the longest time, but now, he watched Rin slowly start showing signs of caring even just the littlest bit.

"I got super close to him and he didn't even move. At all. He just stood there and smiled. And then when I had my knife literally an inch from his face, he didn't flinch. He wasn't scared if me. He....impressed me." Rin stated.

"Oh? That's nice, Rin." Yukio remarked.

"We really need to sleep." Rin sighed a few minutes later. Yukio huffed out quiet laughter, but they eventually managed to fall asleep.

§~•~§~•~§

Trekking through the snow the next day was difficult, especially since it just kept coming down. Rin finally gave up on dealing with it and channeled his flames from his feet. He burned them a path through the snow as they walked.

They walked right into the middle of some weird snake looking guy demanding that Shura fulfill her promise.

"Hey Shura. Is this guy giving you trouble?" Rin asked, not even caring that he had no idea what was going on.

"Uh....yeah. Did the Headmaster send you?" She answered hesitantly, going along. Rin seemed to have taken on a sarcastic and cocky demeanor, meaning he had a plan of some sort that involved playing pretend. He didn't feel much, but he was a great actor.

"Yeah. He sent me to come rescue his 'princess.' Guy's a creep. Had to deal with this weird Inn keeper lady." Rin carried on as if the snake man wasn't looking murderously at him.

"That's why I stayed in the hotel. But uh....I've got some business to attend to, so do you think you could maybe back off for a minute?" She asked nervously.

Rin shook his head. "No can do, Sweetheart. I've gotta get you back. If you'd explain what's going on, maybe we can get back by tonight." Rin slid an arm around her waist casually. He was warm, which felt nice against the biting cold.

The Snake man sneered. "Yes, Tatsuko, please explain to this insolent boy why you are here and about to get your throat ripped out." He hissed. Shura flinched. Then she began to tell the story of her ancestor, Tatsuko.

Fleeing the Iga ninja to start her own style, Tatsuko Kirigakure fled into the north where she encountered Hachiro. Crossing swords with the demon, she was easily defeated. But her tenacity to survive enraptured him, prompting the demon to make a deal with Tatsuko. He would grant Tatsuko and her descendants his power and use of the demon sword, Fang–but in exchange, each new generation would look like Tatsuko and have a child and die by the age of thirty, allowing Hachiro to admire her beauty forever.

Rin snorted. "That's stupid. And creepy. You gave a woman a wicked sword but cursed her and all of her ancestors to not only look the same, but have a baby and then die by thirty? Get a life, man!" Shura winced. Hachirotaro stared directly into the boy's eyes, but nothing happened. The Snake faltered and tried again.

"Are you gonna stop staring at me or are you thinking of cursing me and keeping my beauty all to yourself too?" Rin joked, smirking. Hachiro hissed and lunged for the teen. Rin dodged, but made it look like he'd barely been able to.

"You! How can you not be affected by my hypnosis?!" Hachiro snarled, swiping at Rin, who dodged again.

Rin grabbed the Snake's arm and yanked him so he crashed headfirst into a tree.

When the Demon Lord looked up, Rin was sporting white Fox ears, Nine fluffy white tails, and long claws. Black eyes with glowing blue irises halted down at him. Hachiro's multiple eyes widened and he gasped. "Impossible! This is beyond the Nine-Tails' Territory!"

"Yeah, I know. She's still whining about it. But _I_ go wherever the fuck I want." Rin told him, grabbing the Snake by the throat. Hachiro lashed out, biting Rin's shoulder. The teen grimaced, but simply kneed Hachiro in the gut. Demons weren't good at hand-to-hand combat since they had powers to help them do everything.

"He has a more powerful form, don't let him use it!" Shura called. She wanted to help, but Hachiro had taken her sword and now it held no power. It was a useless blade. Rin seemed to notice this and kicked Kurikara over to her through the snow, busy trying to unlatch Harchiro's tight hold on him. Just like a Boa constrictor, the Demon squeezed and squeezed. Rin groaned as his skeletal system popped in places it probably shouldn't pop.

He felt a rib or two break and growled.

**Let me take over.**

_No, you'll kill everyone, including the woman we're here to rescue._

**You took me from my weakened host. I owe you for keeping me alive. I know who our comrades are.**

_.....Don't go overboard._

**Yes, My Prince.**

Loud, mocking laughter filled his head before it went blissfully blank.

Outside of his mind, Rin passed out for a moment only for the Nine-Tails to take over and wake up. The Fox snarled and broke free of the embrace. She swiped with her claws lightning fast, leaving deep gashes across the Snake's chest and face. His clothing was many layers, so there was no damage done to his chest, but his face and a couple of his eyes were marred now. Blood poured down his face and dripped into the snow as they fought.

The Fox Demon whimpered as Hachiro pulled three tails with a vice grip. They swung around, batting at the snake, only for him to bite the outstretched arm. A kick to the gut had him letting go as he struggled to get air back in his lungs.

The Nine-Tails extended their claws and stabbed them straight through Hachiro just as the snake bit their throat, right where the cartoid artery was. A fang pierced it deeply and the Fox Demon shreiked, pushing the Snake off of them.

The two collapsed to the ground, coughing and bleeding.

" **Take the curse away.** " Nine-Tails wheezed. Hachiro coughed blood into the snow, groaning.

"Why.....would I....do that?" He coughed.

" **If you choose his side, we can all win. He's recruiting. He will win for us. He'll make you his familiar and he'll put you to good use fighting with him.** " Nine-Tails felt like they were pitching some sort of deal for cars on sale.

"After I've nearly killed him, he will accept me?" Hachiro wondered. The Fox Demon nodded.

" **Yes. And you will get to watch your woman grow older and maybe have a family of her own. You will watch her get better and stronger on her own.** " Nine-Tails was laying it on thick. They could use Hachiro. They needed him.

"......Fine. But I'd better see my Tatsuko whenever I want." Hachiro gave in.

"Her name's not Tatsuko, you pest. It's Shura. We'll make an official deal later if you want, but I'm gonna bleed out soon if we don't get help." Rin choked up more blood, letting it run through the snow around his head. He was bleeding from his shoulder, his arm, his neck. Blood was pooling around him in the snow.

He felt freezing cold against the wounds that felt like they were burning. Shura was leaning over him. She'd put snow on the wounds.

"Don't worry, a team is on their way." She said, tears slowly gathering in her eyes.

"Why are you crying, I saved you?" Rin grunted. Shura flicked him on the forehead.

"I'm crying _because_ you saved me, you idiot!" The tears fell onyo Rin's cheeks.

"You didn't want to be saved?" Rin was incredibly confused. Shura let a sob out and hugged him to her.

"No, Rin. These are happy tears. I never thought my life would mean anything. I gave up before it even started. Thank you! Thank you both!" Yukio was sitting next to them and being hugged by Shura too.

"All I did was rig the magic circle so he couldn't escape and call backup. Rin did all the work." Yukio blushed, though no one could tell because his cheeks were already red due to the cold.

"No." Rin grasped his twins sleeve with a bloody hand.

"He would've....gotten away. You.... you did good." He winced. He was getting tired and couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, breathing as best he could with the blood pouring out of his neck. Because his eyes were closed, he didn't see the overjoyed expression on Yukio's face.

Maybe Rin was already changing. He'd never gone out of his way to make sure Yukio knew he did a good job for anything before. It didn't matter why Rin said it or how logical his reasoning might be, it still warmed Yukio's heart.

For now, he'd take the tiny compliment and hope Rin made a good recovery.

He was just starting to blossom, after all.


	19. Truth

Suguro and Lightning had begun investigating the circumstances of Rin and Yukio's birth.

It was quite an interesting collection of information. Shiro Fujimoto was a clone of Azazel and raised in Asylum. Clones were made in batches at Section 13–a whole organization who's dole purpose was to give Lucifer a body so he wouldn't go supernova and destroy every living thing in Assiah. Shiro's twin out of his batch, Goro, was missing from the files. His file was completely gone, ripped out. Suguro and Lightning figured that one was the one Satan possessed to impregnate Yuri Egin.

Since Rin was higher ranked than Suguro, he could tell him all the information and Rin could pass it on to Yukio. It was difficult putting all the evidence together with only bits and pieces of it. Huge chunks were missing in the timeline.

Finally, Mephisto had laughed at their struggle and shown Rin and Yukio the past with the key Shiro had given Rin before he died.

"It was around your neck the whole time?!" Yukio gaped. Rin shrugged.

"He told me it hides things. That's it. I've used to it to store Kurikara several times." The half-demon told him.

They watched the whole sequence of events–From little Yuri playing with baby fireball Satan and calling him Rinka("That's where _your_ name came from...."), to Yuri meeting Shiro, who'd been known as the Yukiotoko("And that's where she got _my_ name."), to Shiro being a heartless douchebag manwhore in his younger years after becoming an adult("Oh God, dad why?!"). And finally, to Yuri giving birth to demon baby Rin shooting around like a pinball and annihilating every witness in the room except Shiro, Satan shooting around in bodies all across the world as Yukio was stillborn and brought to life by Rin's flames, and Yuri dying and leaving the baby boys with Shiro to raise the twins in Southern Cross.

They got back to the present completely mentally exhausted. Even for Rin, it was tiring to watch.

"How was it? Were we right on the parts we knew?" Suguro immediately asked.

"Everything that could've gone wrong.....did." Rin answered, tiredly rubbing his eyes.

Mephisto clicked his tongue. "Oh dear, you two look very tired. Go to sleep and I'll give you a hearty breakfast when you wake. Goodnight children." He knocked them out with a simple sleep spell and laid them on a bed in a spare bedroom in the Manor almost like he cared. Rin was his most prized pawn and Yukio was flourishing under his older brother as well. What a wonderful world.

When he poofed back to his office where Suguro and Lightning still stood, Lightning had a disgusted expression on his face. It was uncommon for him to care but.....

"You almost did that lovingly, gross." He complained. "Please never do that again."

Suguro agreed with fast nodding of his head and the Time King threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Oh, humans are so entertaining. Go on with your lives, boys. There is still plenty to investigate. Try Shemihaza and her creepish smiley people next. I've never liked them." The Demon King waved them away.

"All that time we spent scouring for information and he had it all the whole time!" Suguro cried. Lightning sighed.

"Let's just go grab a couple burgers and sleep. We'll start a new investigation tomorrow. Starting with your pretty blonde friend." Lightning said, patting him on the back.

§~•~§~•~§

Shiemi had, in fact, just learned of her ancestry and duty. It was why she'd dropped out of Cram School.

"You have no control over your life? That's....cruel." Rin said. Shiemi smiled.

"I'm sad about it, but it's the reason I was born. This is my duty. I'll be Shemihaza and then have a daughter and the cycle will keep passing on." She told them, a melancholy smile on her face.

Izumo unexpectedly opened her arms and Shiemi went to them, hugging the Miko tight. "I....I don't want to be a goddess! I want to be Shiemi! I want to have my friends and go on missions with them and have fun with them!" She cried, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I want....I want to stay with Izumo. I want to have sleepovers and eat dinner with Paku-san's family and go shopping with Kirigakure-sensei." The rest of the group shifted uneasily, unsure of what to do.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll be here too." Rin spoke up.

They all looked at him. He wore the same expression as always, but the words were about as unexpected as Kamiki willingly hugging Shiemi. He'd said it almost....consolingly.

"High-levels are immortal and I'm half of one, so I'll outlive all of you except maybe Shiemi unless I die in battle." He explained. There was the tiniest bit of sadness in his frown.

Shiemi gave a watery smile while Yukio put an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Thanks Rin. That helps." He spoke for Shiemi.

"I didn't really think about how long it might be until I die before now. It doesn't appeal to me if I have no one to mess with. And I don't plan on being their weapon forever, although I might stick around out of sheer boredom." He continued. They all heard the silent " _Or loneliness._ " At the end of the words. Rin might not understand what he felt deep down, but they could tell by the sadness slowly reaching his eyes.

The day passed by in heavy silence.

Rin got Godaiin to hang out with him. He was using the teen for comfort without realizing he needed or wanted comfort. Godaiin just let it happen, though he was incredibly happy that Rin liked him that much.

Rin's liking of Godaiin was different from his liking of Suguro or Shima or any of his other friends. Neither could explain or understand exactly what was different, it just was. Rin liked that Godaiin had never been scared of him aside from their initial first meeting where Godaiin didn't even know Rin was Satan's son. When Rin told him that part, he hadn't panicked. He'd just been curious.

Rin didn't resist when Godaiin wrapped an arm around him in a hug.

§~•~§~•~§

In the following days, Shura decided to have a new demon posses her sword so she could be more useful. She filled the blade with the power and Divine Protection of Mid-level Sylphs.

She reformed her attacks to use more air-based attacks. She helped Rin learn how to fight with Hachirotaro and his ice-based powers. It was hard for the son of Satan to maintain Hachiro's form with his own power because he was born a fire demon.

His adaptive abilities were still good enough for him to adapt to almost any element. They tried Nabarius, but the Rot had crawled up his arm from the cut in his arm and they'd had to disrupt the summoning circle before he lost the entire limb.

The more Rin was sent on major missions, the more he recruited. He made deals with high-level demons, who had control over lower demons. Some demons simply bowed to the half-demon and declared their services. Rin didn't like having loose ends, but he was confident he could hunt them down if they betrayed him.

The Order thought he was recruiting for them and the demons just only responded to Rin, but Rin was building his own army right under their noses. He'd attained his own armour that looked more like the suits from Voltron than greaves and leather.

The armour was all black and made of a tough material from Gehenna. The bottom layer was like a sleeveless bodysuit and there were elbow gloves to cover most of his arms, along with a mask that covered the bottom half of his face.

The armor had swirling electric blue flame designs on the hips, legs, arms, and chest and shoulders. Similar marks were also on the mask. There were gauntlets, armored boots, and a belt, all with poisoned spikes protruding from them. Rin kept the Kamikakushi key inside his belt for whenever he needed to make his getaway.

The armor had been gifted to him from Mephisto and Amaimon, who were, of course, in on Rin's game.

The armour was nearly impenetrable and incredibly useful in the field. Things were going splendidly for Rin.

On Yukio's end, things were surprisingly easy. He'd joined the Illuminati under the guise of wanting to get stronger, to be more powerful than Rin.

Lucifer bought it easily, surprisingly enough. They tested him and told him he was completely human, but had a temptaint from Rin when they were born. Yukio knew exactly how it had happened, but feigned anger and confusion.

"Yes, your brother must have injured you in the womb or some such instance. All the more reason to hate him, yes? He took away the life you could've had as a normal human." Lucifer had a habit of walking around Yukio in a slow circle, telling him lies salaciously.

Yukio guessed the Demon King thought he was getting in Yukio's head, but Yukio was actually internally struggling not to laugh. He wondered how this might affect him if he actually had the problems Lucifer thought he had. It'd probably unnerve him, at least.

But all Yukio wanted to do was go home. He missed his friends and his twin. Missed the days when everyone, even Godaiin and Paku, sat down in the cafeteria of the Okumura Dorm and ate a meal that Rin had cooked up together.

Mephisto seemed to approve of their group and how they supported each other, so he'd given the twins a pay raise and they were able to make plenty of food for everyone with quality ingredients. They ate togeher all the time, laughing and telling stories of their childhoods and talking about things they did in class and tests they had to study for and who did what stupid thing on a mission.

It was a family. Something Yukio had always wanted. Brothers and sisters and happiness and light. He had to remind himself every day he woke up on this Air Fortress that this was for his family. He'd have to deal with it and play the bad guy for a while until he found the perfect moment.

He wished he had a copy of the group shot they'd taken right before he'd left, but if he carried that, it would give him away.

He'd even had to shoot Rin a few times when Rin was fake trying to stop him from joining the Illuninati. Needless to say, Yukio had a few new scars that were definitely knife wounds.....

He'd felt a pang in his chest having to shoot his brother, but the teen had winked at him before he pulled the trigger. Had things been different, would he have shot Rin on purpose? If Rin had grown up with emotions, would he be annoying and outspoken or cold and calculating? Would he have been nice or rude?

Would Yukio have hated him?

Yukio dismissed the thoughts swimming around in his head. They were only what ifs and he was grateful for the Rin he'd grown up with.

For now, he'd carry out his part in this war just like Rin and the others were. The Artificial Gehenna Gate was widening slowly. Mephisto's spell was unable to keep it completely still, so it was only a matter of time until the Gate opened and all Hell broke loose.

Rin had figured he didn't need to plan for what to do when that happened since the Order should already have countermeasures in store for the upcoming problem. Or maybe they didn't and Rin would have to save their asses.

Just a little longer, then Yukio could go home and continue to watch his brother begin to understand emotions and how they felt. He might not be nearly as receptive to things like all of their friends were, but he'd understand the feelings at least.

All in due time.


	20. (ಽ ಥ ͜ʖ ಥ)ಽ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that face was my expression when I realized what happens next in the sequence of events for this story because it was like "oh shit" but also laughing so I looked like this (ಽ ಥ ͜ʖ ಥ)ಽ and my older brother was massively confused.

It was just a simple assembly. But not even five minutes into Mephisto's part of the thing and there was a bullet in his forehead. Everyone gaped at what had just happened. On the TV, Mephisto fell backwards and Shura and Rin rushed forward.

Well, Shura rushed forward, obviously panicking. Rin walked to the microphone and gave his signature grin. "Sorry folks, we have a medical emergency, so that'll be all. Please go home." He said in a pleasant voice, then crouched next to Mephisto. The medics were coming with a stretcher, but it was not needed. Rin simply picked him up and carried him off stage.

They learned later that the Demon King's host would be fine and no one had caught the shooter, but the Time Lord had to let go of the Artificial Gehenna Gate if he wanted to recover, thus releasing demons upon the world.

§~•~§~•~§

"They're going to send me with Angel." Rin sighed. "Who's Angel again?" Godaiin wondered.

"The Paladin. My boss. _Supposedly_ the strongest exorcist in the order." Rin reminded him.

"Ahhh, the tool. They'll send you with him....to take care of that Gate thing?" Godaiin guessed. Rin nodded. The way his shoulders were tensed.... Rin didn't want to go. He saw the hesitation in the half-demon's eyes when he turned to face Godaiin.

"It's your job, Rin. Besides, if anyone has a chance against hordes upon hordes of demons, it's you." Godaiin encouraged. A knife flew at his face like usual. He considered the shiny blade before raising an eyebrow at Rin.

"You don't know any other Exorcists except me and Yukio." The half-demon deadpanned. Despite the blank expression, the human saw Rin's internal struggle. He was really worrying about this.

Was he _that_ afraid of not coming back? Rin's emotional development was going splendidly, but there were always things like this that brought out the more troublesome emotions. Especially worry, anxiety, and fear. Godaiin shivered to think of how lost Rin would be if he had to experience actual fear all alone in some unfair situation.

It would be horrible, no doubt. After hearing about Rin's recurring nightmares of whatever had happened when he was six, he knew Rin's insecurities were growing as he learned to feel again. As time went on, more and more pieces to the puzzle were added to the nightmares and Rin didn't like it one bit. He'd always hug himself and curl up and stay silent–just like he described he'd done when he was taken by whatever the hell his kidnappers had been.

Now, those habits began to show through and Rin put the knife down and he pressed his nails into his palm probably hard enough to cut into skin in an effort to not wrap his arms around himself.

Godaiin gently grasped one of Rin's fists, wrapping his other arm around the half-demon. Rin didn't fight the embrace. He didn't pull his hand out of Godaiin's grip either.

"No, I don't know any other Exorcists." Godaiin agreed. "But I _do_ know that everyone who knows you believes you can get the job done. We all know you're capable of taking care of yourself and others. It's why we trust you, despite your difficult personality."

Rin snorted at the description.

"You've got an army of Demons ready to fight with you and for you. Hell, you've got demons in your body that boost your power. You've learned how to control the fire. You know how to keep it from hurting humans too. You've mastered fighting with your sword." Godaiin continued. "So, use the flames as a trump card if you need to. Use all of your other utilities before them. If things get especially bad," Godaiin pulled away to look Rin in his deep, Sapphire-blue eyes.

"Blast those bastards back to Hell."

Rin gave a smile. The smile he only gave Godaiin for some reason. No one else could get him to smile like that. It was a small smile, but it was surprisingly soft for Rin's personality. And he only did it for Godaiin.

It warmed Godaiin's heart and made butterflies flutter in his stomach, but he ignored it. Now was not the time to crush on his emotionally detached best friend who was about to go off and fight demons for who knew how long. Although, he felt a bit like he was a woman sending her husband off to war in the days of the World Wars.....

Godaiin pulled Rin back against him. Rin stood there, enjoying the embrace for what felt like a long time but was probably only about five minutes. His eyes closed and he turned his face more into Godaiin's chest. The human held him just a bit tighter.

"Hey." Godaiin pulled back some and lifted Rin's chin so he could look him in the eyes again. "I'll see you when you get back." He said firmly. Rin's eyes hardened again into what Godaiin had realized was determination.

"Okay."

Godaiin could wait until after Rin came back to kiss him like he wanted to now.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin was sent out with the strongest Exorcists the Order had from every base in every country that wasn't being completely overwhelmed. Rin had to use half-assed sign language because most of these people were from all different countries and they all spoke different languages.

They had every kind of Exorcist– Knight, Aria, Tamer, Dragoon, Doctor, and everything in between those. Their Doctors could barely keep up with injuries. A few Tamers had to work with them, providing Greenmen to produce natural healing supplies.

Rin was in the infirmary every day. Injuries meant nothing to him and they never left scars. He didn't get any real sleep, but he was very efficient and ran easily on an hour of sleep a day as long as he ate enough food. People had sneered and spat at him at first, but they'd come to respect him after he'd saved the base from several nearly-overwhelming demon attacks. If Rin was the only thing standing between the base and the Exorcists in it and this army of Demons, of course he'd be in the infirmary every day.

He often felt something coming from the Gate, something strong. It was pushing at it, trying to force it open all the way. Rin wondered if it was his father or something else....

**It's him.**

_Satan?_

**Yes boy. He comes closer.**

_Why?_

**He only wants to see his son.**

_He has eight other kids, why me?_

**None of those are his actual children. They are concepts thought to be his young. You are his only biological child.**

_....Are you fucking kidding me? Yukio is his kid too._

**You are his favorite, Crown Prince.**

Rin could hear the mocking grin in the Fox's words and gave a sigh. Life was dull here at the base. Fight, eat, nap, eat, fight more until he landed himself in the infirmary and woke up healed to fight again. Rin hadn't been able to feel most of his body except for when he was injured. It felt like everything was frozen solid. He had no doubt the other Exorcists struggled with this too. Some had already lost limbs to frostbite after being unable to crawl back to the base when they'd gotten injured on the battlefield. Several others had died of hypothermia due to the same reason. They'd frozen to death because there was simply no time for others to help them back to base during the fighting. Those who were taken in between waves of demons and made recoveries were lucky.

_Shouldn't I be able to keep myself warm since my main thing is flames?_

**Beats me, I'm a fox. You should be able to, but your lack of emotions and feeling behind your actions might keep you from automatically staying warm. That's my best guess.**

Rin hummed in response and carried on with killing every demon within sight.

He didn't know it, but the more time he spent away from the people who cared for him, the more the world around him faded back to monochrome just like it was for him before.

_How miserable._

§~•~§~•~§

The base was almost overwhelmed again.

Stronger and stronger demons came through the more the Exorcists destroyed the hordes. It seemed like as soon as one was destroyed, hundreds more took it's place.

Rin barely made it there to save them. He barely had time to call on his arsenal of demon warriors to defend while he went on the offensive. Fox Form was enough to destroy while the Exorcists collected themselves. He bought them enough time and destroyed enough demons to a manageable level so they could take over and he could get his power nap in and maybe eat something.

§~•~§~•~§

Godaiin was bored without Rin around. It had been months. Second year had started. He hung with Rin's friends, but they were all worried for the half-demon.

Suguro's boss, Lightning, gave them little pieces of information on what was happening at the Gate every once in a while. The latest news was that stronger demons were coming through and the Exorcists already deployed there were having trouble keeping up with the strength and large numbers of the demons coming through. 

A lot of the Exorcists deployed to the Gate were dead or incapacitated and unable to fight anymore. There were a certain five Exorcists, the strongest there, that held their own and the Exorcists still in their home countries and away from the real fight passed around stories of them given by the incapacitated Exorcists who were forced to come home once they were useless on the battlefield. It was like passing down war stories.

The Exorcists still at home, by now, had set up sheilds–massive domes–around cities and towns that were vastly poupulated with humans. Many regular humans had become exorcists themselves, if only to protect their homes. Some humans had been turned into Nephilims–part human, part demon, like Rin. All of the ExWires had been titled Exorcists and there were new and much bigger batches to be taught now.

Bon had passed with both Aria and Dragoon like he'd wanted, and he'd gotten Tamer for his control of Karura. Shima passed with Knight and Tamer. Izumo passed with Tamer. Shiemi got Tamer and Doctor, but was being trained as the Empress of Creation currently. Konekomeru passed with Aria.

They'd taught Godaiin some simple warding and shielding verses and given him a blessed pocket knife just in case the small fry tried to jump him. He was thankful that they thought of him as their friend even if he wasn't part of their world.

He hoped Rin could come home soon. Those war stories of him and the four other Exorcists were incredible, but also frightening to hear.


	21. Overload

Rin was tired.

He needed something to allow him reprieve from this endless cycle. It was monotonous and he was sick of it.

But Satan was right there.

He was so close to coming through that Rin couldn't leave.

He'd thought about going through himself to confront the Demon God, but through better of it. If he got trapped in Gehenna, that'd be bad news for Assiah if Satan's plan was to attack.

Fox Form and all the familiars and warriors in his arsenal weren't enough this time. This time, he'd need his trump card. But it wasn't a trump card unless it did something effective that lasted long enough for them to come up with a plan of attack to rid Assiah of the problem at hand. He'd been here for who knew how long.

Almost every one of the Exorcists he'd originally been deployed here with were dead and no new ones had come in in two months. Their numbers were low and sections of the base were abandoned, collapsed and taken over by demons. They'd lost the Hospital wing and several deliveries of supplies they desperately needed. The base was low on food, people, and morale. They were losing.

His four comrades who'd need dubbed the Elite Team on the base were the last defence for whatever was left if the base. The other Four were currently protecting the base from the demons at their door.

Rin was the Weapon of the Order. His job was to give Humanity a fighting chance in this war. He was failing at the one job he had.

He came up with a decent plan as he ate a quick meal before going back into battle. He'd put it into motion the next day. This one was almost over. He needed to tell those that were left and get as much rest as he could for this plan to work.

§~•~§~•~§

He'd only gotten five hours of sleep, but it would have to do. The other Four of the Elites had given him their rations to make up for it.

This was the best shot he had at this.

As his Demon Warriors fought off demons around him in a dome while he made his way to the Gate, he gathered his power and energy. He pulled it all into him and forced it into the smallest ball of power he could force it into. Wild, unruly powers hated being contained and would bite back at the user for doing it to them.

Rin wondered if he'd even survive the blowback from this.

Probably not.

He wished he could've seen how everyone back in Japan was doing before this, but life had never given him a Get Out Of Jail Free card before, so he'd just live with it. He'd miss his brother, and his friends, and Godaiin.

He made it to the Gate. It writhed within it's boundaries, swirling masses coming from it in swarming batches.

Rin pressed the power harder into the ball and felt it finally push back.

In a second, the world was turned a bright, brilliant blue. It was beautiful. He'd never appreciated the beauty of his flames. He appreciated them now, while he was still conscious.

His body felt like it was being ripped apart and turned into ashes at the same time.

He blacked out.

§~•~§~•~§

" _He's back._ "

The text message had Godaiin bolting out of his classroom with no regard for what the teacher was yelling at him.

He saw Suguro and Konekomeru in the same hallway a few doors down. They all ran and met up with Shima, Shiemi, and Izumo as they went. They arrived at the True Cross Exorcist Hospital where Yukio had instructed them to go on the way there.

Yukio looked up at them when they arrived panting in the doorway to Rin's room. He'd used a key from Mephisto to get here. He didn't have much time to be with Rin before he had to go back to the Illuminati base and tie up loose ends now that Rin had solved their Gate issue.

Rin laid in a crisp white cot. He was in comfy-looking black clothes–a cotton long sleeve shirt and cotton pants with slippers. He was out cold and had a nasal cannula giving him oxygen. Two separate IV's in the back of his hands gave him fluids and morphine. It was worrying, but better than a full breathing mask and machines attached to him. He had bandages all over him. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully, but that didn't hide the dark bags under his eyes or how pale he was compared to before he'd left. He looked like he lost a few pounds, but not enough to be too concerning.

"They almost didn't find him. They said he was half buried in snow and demon corpses right next to the Gate." Yukio told them. He was holding one of Rin's hands.

"What about the Gate? Did he close it?" Suguro asked. "He didn't close it, but he did something. The Gate can't seem to spit out any more demons. One of the Exorcists that survived at the base said Rin exploded and everything stopped. They kept an eye on the Gate until they were rescued." Yukio continued.

Godaiin was sitting in a chair next to Rin, opposite Yukio. Rin's hair was much longer and spilled down over his shoulders in inky black locks. One lock was solid white from roots to ends. If he looked at it long enough, it seemed to be blueish white. Rin looked older and incredibly tired. Godaiin knew the conditions over there were horrid and they were reflected in Rin's appearance.

"More reports just came in, you guys won't believe this!" Lightning walked in waving papers with a grin. "What?" Izumo frowned.

"The Gate is _eating itself!_ The blue flames around it are eating into it and the Gate is reacting weirdly and eating itself from the inside out! It's creepy, but so interesting!" Lightning explained excitedly.

"Huh. So this guy really did it." Suguro looked down at Rin with new respect.

"He destroyed the Gate. He didn't need to, but he did it all on his own." Konekomeru sighed.

"Yeah, but what did it cost? He must have given everything he had left in him." Shiemi pointed out. They stood in solemn silence, even Lightning.

"I can try calling to the Nine-Tails." Izumo suddenly spoke. They all looked at her questioningly. "I'm still connected to it by heritage. I can try calling out to it to wake him up. If she's still there." She explained.

"Please," Yukio spoke up. "Try."

The girl nodded and stepped forward. She placed a hand on Rin's forehead and closed her eyes, concentrating. They all held their breaths.

**What do you want girl?**

Is he still there?

**I wouldn't be here if he wasn't, be more specific.**

Is he strong enough to come back to us?

**Maybe. I'm not sure. I can attempt waking him, but he hasn't gained much energy since the stunt he pulled. Took all I had to hang on to stay in this body and even more power to keep him alive through that.**

Thank you, O Great Nine-Tailed Fox.

**You're welcome, girlie.**

Izumo pulled her hand back, blinking.   
"Nine-Tails will try. I don't know if it'll work. He's pretty drained, guys." She told them.

They waited with baited breath before finally, a groan from the teen on the cot.

He blinked his eyes open and winced at the bright white lights. Konekomeru turned them off. Daylight lit the room decently enough for them to see each other. Rin opened his eyes.

"'M I home?" He mumbled. Yukio threw his arms around his twin with a choked sob. Godaiin wasn't any better, he was holding Rin's hand to him, muttering "Oh thank God."

"Yeah buddy. You're home." Suguro answered with a wide grin. Rin hummed in response.

"Do I have to go back?" He asked next, more coherent.

"Nah, you solved that problem on your own, buddy." Lightning answered. They all jumped, having forgotten he was still there.

"Waddaya mean?" Rin mumbled, confused.

"Dude, your flames are _eating_ the Gate! It went nuts and started eating itself too! You saved us!" Shima chimed in.

"Oh." Was all Rin said. Yukio snorted.

"That's all you can say?" He laughed.

"Pretty sure half m' braincells left with that blast." Rin admitted. This time, Godaiin laughed.

"You don't have to go back. You can rest easy for a while with all your friends. You massively fucked over the Illuminati's plans." He told the teen proudly.

"Huh. So even someone like me can have friends. That's unexpected." Rin hummed, thumb absently tracing Godaiin's knuckles.

Godaiin felt the familiar flutter of butterflies in his stomach and this time, he welcomed it. Suguro patted him on the shoulder and winked at him when Godaiin turned to look at him in question. When he turned back, Yukio was smirking at him knowingly.

Rin's friends were gonna be the death of him.


	22. Loose Ends

The Illuminati still tried. They tried _desperately_ and it was hilarious to watch it all burn to the ground.

After Rin came home and was in recovery, Yukio went back to finish his mission. He acted like he hated his twin and was pissed that the fucker had actually come home alive.

He helped the Illuminati with their creepy Chosen One research and so, the procedure began. He was not sad at all to see Todou go. If anything, he was cackling on the inside.

And in the middle of Todou being incinerated in the machine, he called on the familiars Rin had given him. Similar familiars to the ones in a Morinas contract.

"Okumura.....?!" Lucifer gasped in a rare display of shock. Todou's wretch of a daughter looked so angry, she'd popped a vein.

"You dare–" He cut her off. "Shut the hell up, Homare. You're obsessed with a Demon King that can't even use his power in this world without dying. Get over yourself." He snapped. He turned to the demons.

"Destroy the Airship."

"You're still on it, sir." One pointed out.

"I can handle myself." Yukio told him. The demons obeyed and began causing massive damage to the flying base while Yukio cackled, probably looking like a Villain in a movie.

Lucifer looked so betrayed and angry. Yukio wanted to laugh at him.

"You can't stop this." He said confidently with a wide smirk. "You can't even use your own power."

For a minute, his body burned from the inside and an invisible force pressed in on him from the outside, but it was over soon. Lucifer coughed up blood and Homare did her classic "Oh no, Commander!" Act. Yukio rolled his eyes.

"Homare, I can feel you thirsting from here, get a life."

With that, he ran. He ran to get his new guns and grab as many weapons as he could to take back to the Order. He also destroyed as much stuff as he could. Destroying things was fun and the fact that it was an enemy's territory made it even more satisfying.

Finally, he had to dive out of the broken hangar doors. There were no parachutes, unfortunately.

He ordered his familiars to not stop until every agent was captured or dead, so he was on his own. The best he could hope for was for the trees under him to break his fall somewhat.

He crashed through branches and needles were shoved into his clothes, hair, and eyes. He wisely kept his mouth shut, lest he eat dirt.

He blacked out the moment he hit the ground.

§~•~§~•~§

When Yukio came to, he had an angry and half dead Light King to deal with. He'd wanted to drag himself somewhere safe until Mephisto could send someone to pick him up and instead stumbled upon Lucifer.

He had to finish the mission.

"Lucifer, you can join us. Join Rin. We can be powerful together." He tried. He didn't really want Lucifer on his team, so he probably wasn't selling it very well, but he really didn't care. It was an alternative to what was going to happen to the eldest Demon King if he said no.

Predictably, he refused. How sad(not really).

Yukio had his gun out and blasted a hole right through the King of Light's head. The body dropped to the ground, dead before it ever got there. After so many years of having a host in Assiah he'd been returned to his home.

Yukio had never been so satisfied in his life.

Now, he could go home to his brother and friends and hopefully move up in ranks after completing this mission successfully. Of course, he'd only stay with the Order as long as Rin did, but it didn't hurt to have a high status and a pay raise.

He took out his miraculously still-working phone and dialled Mephisto so someone could come pick him up. He was sure there was a broken rib stabbing into his lung and now that he wasn't on the move, the adrenaline rush was fading and his body collapsed to the ground.

He barely made the call before he passed out.

§~•~§~•~§

Yukio Okumura was picked up and transported right into emergency surgery to fix his punctured lung just in time.

He made it through surgery and was given a cot in Recovery right next to his brother.

§~•~§~•~§

Illuminati agents were found and captured by the dozens. Bases were raided and shut down.

The future was looking good.


	23. Middle Finger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The inspiration I got for this story came from a song called Middle Finger by Bohnes and I hope you listen to it while you read this chapter, because that song is where this story started.

Godaiin helped Rin recover and get back on his feet, though he couldn't walk without a cane or someone else supporting him. Giving power that he didn't have damaged the nerves in his left leg pretty badly–Equivalent Exchange, he supposed. It also damaged the nerves in his right hand, but that healed up good enough to where it just twitched at random times. Rin dropped out of highschool because he'd already missed a lot and who needed education when you were the son of Satan destined to fight for Humanity?

Godaiin's feeling grew deeper for Rin and Rin's feelings blossomed more and more. It was beautiful to see him feel like they did.

§~•~§~•~§

"What do your parents think of me now?" Rin wondered after he'd officially dropped out of school. "They told me to stay away from you." Godaiin admitted. Rin snickered.

"Pffft, rich people....."

"Hey, I'm a rich person!" Godaiin looked at him, offended. "Yeah, but you're a _good_ rich person. You give willingly to the poor." Rin said.

"Be honest, do you like me for my money or my personality?" Godaiin asked jokingly.

".....Is it wrong if I say both?" Rin gave him a lopsided grin and he huffed out a laugh.

"No, it's not wrong. You gotta know where to get the goods in life. I say you got two birds with one stone." He told the half-demon. Rin smiled, the smile he only ever gave Godaiin, and the teen noticed he was holding Rin's hand already because of how close they were sitting

They sat there and stared. Stared at each other. Stared _into_ each other.

Godaiin leaned forward and pressed his lips against Rin's. Rin closed his eyes like he'd been waiting for it and felt warmth blossom in his chest. It was a feeling he only ever got around Godaiin. A rush of warmth that had his cheeks heating and him smiling at the teen like he was the sun after a storm.

Godaiin pulled back and Rin sighed contentedly, moving forward to wrap his arms around the taller boy's waist and kiss him again. He enjoyed this. It felt nice. It was warm, it was sweet, and it was everything he wanted. He wanted to live for this.

"Date me." He demanded softly.

"Okay." Godaiin replied just as softly, pressing in to kiss him again. They sat there, just kissing and cuddling in the warm rays of the sun for a long time.

Rin may not have started with all the tools he'd need in life to live happily, but he'd learned how to accommodate them and even how to incorporate them into to his life enough to love someone. He loved his brother and he loved his friends and most of all, he loved his boyfriend.

As he and Godaiin shared another kiss, he put his middle finger up to the sky to flip off everything that held him back from anything he'd ever wanted.

Including those Demon Eaters who'd kidnapped and tortured him when he was six.


	24. Epilogue

Ten years later, they'd all graduated. Rin still fought for the Order, though it was mostly his familiars that fought for him now. His leg never healed fully, but he could still use his tail to balance himself without his cane if needed.

Godaiin worked at a bank and had cut his family off from his life after they'd tried several times to dissuade him from marrying Rin. The last straw was when his father called Rin a lowlife with nothing to offer _to his face._ At that time, Rin punched Godaiin's father square in the nose. Rin didn't care what people said about him, but Godaiin was right there next to him and Godaiin cared a lot.

"If it was just me here, I wouldn't care. But that man is _not_ your son anymore. He is my fiance and he's mine now because it's clear he won't get the care he deserves from _you._ If either of us ever have to see you again, _I'll ruin you._ " Rin had murmured to the man, dead calm.

It made Godaiin feel warm and fuzzy inside.

They'd both secured good jobs and gotten married after dating for two years and being engaged for six months. At 26, they had two children that were 6 and 4, and three more kids on the way–triplets, Dear Lord–via surrogacy. They were happy and having children helped Rin develop better emotionally. He seemed to grow with the children and it was good for him. Godaiin loved nothing more than watching Rin play Knights and Princesses with the kids or watching how Rin took so much care to do their little girl's hair up in fancy braids or buns and then watch her put Rin's hair up in different messy do's in turn. Every time Rin thought to cut his hair, he just couldn't because his perfect little girl loved playing with it too much.

Godaiin loved eating dinner with Rin and the kids and sometimes Godaiin's sister–their surrogate who happened to look very similar to Godaiin, and the only good person in the family.

With Godaiin's job at the bank and Rin's job as the Order's Weapon, they made a ton of money monthly and put a good amount of it away to support their kids if anything ever happened to Rin and Godaiin or if they needed it for college or private school.

Currently, they were painting a new nursery for the triplets–a warm pale gold, so when the sun hit the room through the window just right, it would feel just as warm as it looked and provide the perfect light for the kids.

Rin had learned to love the life he'd been given and the friends who'd stuck with him all those years ago. They kept in touch and met up every so often. Konekomeru was engaged to the girl he went to the Festival in first year with. Bon wasn't married and didn't seem interested in anyone at the moment(Godaiin was sure he'd fallen hard for Rin before he and Godaiin got together), Shiemi was an Empress of Creation and Life and had no ties to them anymore–a fact that seemed to sadden Rin when it was brought up, Yukio married Shima and they were in the process of adopting their first kid, and Izumo had quit the Order, going to being a Miko like her mother had been. She'd liked Shiemi and was just realizing it when Shiemi had left to be Shemihaza. It hurt her deeply and she didn't seem to want to love anyone else, though Paku was always there, clinging onto the hope that her feelings would be returned one day.

Nothing could be perfect, but Godaiin sometimes wondered if he could make just one more thing perfect by maybe inviting Suguro over more often to see how their relationship could blossom. He'd never had anything against the guy and Rin still loved teasing him however he could whenever they met up. Maybe that compatibility could go even farther than friends?

Godaiin didn't know, but he'd like to try. He'd talk to Rin about it after they put the kids to bed.

But either way, whether Suguro became something more to them or stayed their good friend, whether the birth of the triplets went well or not, and whether Rin died young out in the field or in his sleep peacefully one day as an old man, Godaiin still loved how things had turned out for him and Rin.

He wouldn't change a thing about how his life turned out if he was given the chance to go back in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, almost a whole year in quarantine, huh? Well, I'm still on the fence about making a sequel to this book with Rin/Godaiin/Suguro as the ship. I need an actual plot and not just a ship, so if you could help me come up with ideas for that, it would be lovely, because I miss writing Middle Finger!Rin.
> 
> I have a vague idea for the sequel fic, I might wrote it if I can compose enough plot points, so keep an eye out for the sequel.


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